Physiology

Menstrual characteristics are important signs of women’s health. Here we examine the variation of menstrual cycle length by age, ethnicity, and body weight using 165,668 cycles from 12,608 participants in the US using mobile menstrual tracking apps.

Despite advances in high-dimensional cellular analysis, the molecular profiling of dynamic behaviors of cells in their native environment remains a major challenge. We present a method that allows us to couple the physiological behaviors of cells in an intact murine tissue to deep molecular profiling of individual cells. This method enabled us to establish a novel molecular signature for a striking migratory cellular behavior following injury in murine airways.

Housing conditions are a key driver of asthma incidence and severity. Previous studies have shown increased emergency department visits for asthma among residents living in poor-quality housing. Interventions to improve housing conditions have been shown to reduce emergency department visits for asthma, but identification and remediation of poor housing conditions is often delayed or does not occur. This study evaluates whether emergency department visits for asthma can be used to identify poor-quality housing to support proactive and early intervention

Obesity increases asthma prevalence and severity. However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood, and consequently, therapeutic options for asthma patients with obesity remain limited. Here we report that cholecystokinin—a metabolic hormone best known for its role in signaling satiation and fat metabolism—is increased in the lungs of obese mice and that pharmacological blockade of cholecystokinin A receptor signaling reduces obesity-associated airway hyperresponsiveness