APS Publications Podcast

Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Metabolic Rhythms and Liver Bioenergetics

In this AI generated episode of The APS Publications Podcast featuring Function, we will dive into exciting new research that is shaping our understanding of how the body works at its most fundamental level. We spotlight the article “Short-term time-restricted feeding improves metabolic rhythms and liver mitochondrial bioenergetic function in high-fat diet-fed mice,” by Valcin et al. published recently in Function. Across the U.S. and the world, more people are developing fatty liver disease—now often called metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease. About one in three adults are affected. What causes it? Often, long-term high-fat diets and disrupted metabolism. Inside the liver, tiny structures called mitochondria—the cell’s power plants—stop working efficiently. When that happens, the liver struggles to burn fat, energy levels drop, inflammation rises, and damage spreads to other organs. But here’s the surprising part: It’s not just what we eat that hurts these mitochondria. It’s when we eat. Ready to learn more? Listen now.

 

Jennifer A. Valcin, Telisha Millender-Swain, Jodi R. Paul, Brandon K. Collins, Fatme Ghandour, Sameer Al Diffalha, Jennifer S. Pollock, David M. Pollock, Scott W. Ballinger, Karen L. Gamble, Shannon M. Bailey Short-term time-restricted feeding improves metabolic rhythms and liver mitochondrial bioenergetic function in high-fat diet-fed mice  Function, published February 25, 2026. DOI: 10.1152/function.082.2025

Interorgan Insights: Role of the gut microbiome in predicting PAH severity

In this podcast, author Arun Jose discusses the recently published article, ‘Lactobacillus Is Associated With Disease in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: A Prospective Cohort Study.' The prospective cohort study linked the gut microbiome, gut-derived metabolites, and disease severity in patents with pulmonary arterial hypertension undergoing right heart catheterization. Authors found that the presence of Lactobacillus was associated with less severe disease. 

Lactobacillus Is Associated With Disease in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: A Prospective Cohort Study

Arun Jose, Senu Apewokin, Nicholas J. Ollberding, Qing Duan, Jennifer Trannguyen, Sasha Z. Prisco, Thenappan Thenappan, Anna R. Hemnes, Jean M. Elwing

Comprehensive Physiology 2026 16:3, e70161

https://doi.org/10.1002/cph4.70161

Interorgan Insights: MASLD through the lens of the mitochondrial-autophagy axis

In this podcast, coauthors Gaurab Bhaduri and Anchin Kalia discuss their recently published review, ‘The Mitochondrial–Autophagy Axis in MASLD: Mechanisms, Crosstalk, and Therapeutic Targets’. The review integrates contemporary evidence regarding mitochondrial dysfunction and autophagic regulation in metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). 

The Mitochondrial–Autophagy Axis in MASLD: Mechanisms, Crosstalk, and Therapeutic Targets
Gaurab Bhaduri, Anchin Kalia, Banshi Saboo, Sanjay Bandyopadhyay
Comprehensive Physiology 2026 16:3, e70155

https://doi.org/10.1002/cph4.70155

Interorgan Insights: Highlighting the crucial role of the vascular lymphatic system

In this podcast, author Daniela Negrini discusses the recently published review, ‘The Thoracic Lymphatic Vasculature: Inter-Organ Strategies to Achieve an Optimal Tissue Function’. The article highlights the important but often overlooked role of vascular lymphatic system and the contribution of lymphatic vasculature to the control of extracellular fluid volume and composition as it applies to the majority of the body tissues. 

 

The Thoracic Lymphatic Vasculature: Inter-Organ Strategies to Achieve an Optimal Tissue Function

Daniela Negrini, Eleonora Solari, Cristiana Marcozzi, Andrea Moriondo

Comprehensive Physiology 2026 16:2, e70143

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/cph4.70143

Exploring molecular shifts induced by pseudohypoxia in gray seal blubber

In this episode of The APS Publications Podcast, featuring AJP-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Medicine, author Laura Oller discusses her recent article, "Molecular shifts induced by pseudohypoxia in gray seal blubber: an ex vivo approach." This study explored how blubber regulates responses to chemically induced pseudohypoxia. This study showed a faster, but sustained, increase in molecular markers of hypoxia. It documents downstream molecular responses to those hypoxia-induced changes, revealing important adaptations in mechanisms that induce and sustain the hypoxia response in blubber.

 

Molecular shifts induced by pseudohypoxia in gray seal blubber: an ex vivo approach

Laura Oller, Joel Rocha, Holly Clare Armstrong, Simon E. W. Moss, Ailsa J. Hall, and Kimberley Ann Bennett

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 2026 330:4, R317-R335

Interorgan Insights: Unraveling the paradox of clinically silent cardiac stress

In this podcast, Nguyen Duc Huy Hoang discusses his recently published article, ‘Mechanosensory Silence During Cardiac Stress’. He asks the question, "Why does mechanosensory stress in the heart so often remain perceptually silent?" and hopes his group's new conceptual gating framework, Cardiac Mechanoafferent Silencing Model, will shed some light on the topic and support the prioritization of future experimental and translational investigations.

 

Mechanosensory Silence During Cardiac Stress

Nguyen Duc Huy Hoang

Comprehensive Physiology 2026 16:2, e70122

https://doi.org/10.1002/cph4.70122 

Interorgan Insights: Microcirculation as the fundamental basis of health and disease

In this podcast, coauthors Yuan Li and Mingming Liu discuss their recently published article, ‘Functional segregation of pancreatic microcirculation reveals sex-dependent microhemodynamic signatures’. The article used a multi-scale approach to investigate pancreatic microhemodynamics in healthy male and female mice. Authors identified sexual dimorphism in pancreatic microhemodynamics that was restricted to the exocrine compartment, where blood vessels expressed different levels of CD31 and estrogen receptor ERβ. These sex-specific vascular patterns were linked to distinct systemic steroid hormone profiles, leading to fundamentally different mechanisms of blood‑flow regulation in males and females. Overall, the work identified pancreatic microvasculature as a key site where hormonal differences shape sex‑specific organ physiology.

 

Yuan Li, Yingyu Wang, Bing Wang, Qin Ouyang, Weiqi Liu, Xiang Xu, Xu Zhang, Mingming Liu, Ruijuan Xiu

Comprehensive Physiology 2026 16:2, e70130

https://doi.org/10.1002/cph4.70130

Interorgan Insights: Vagus nerve stimulation across disease states

In this podcast, coauthors Yifeng Bu and Imanuel Lerman discuss their recently published review, ‘A Review of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Disease: Comprehensive Theory and Evidence for Mechanisms of Action’. The review overviews VNS mechanisms and their translational relevance, and thus serves as a foundational resource for advancing the science and clinical deployment of precision neuromodulation and bioelectronic medicine.

A Review of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Disease: Comprehensive Theory and Evidence for Mechanisms of Action

Yifeng Bu, Alex Liang, Benjamin U. Hoffman, Dawn M. Schiehser, Oliver Case, Alan Simmons, Ruth Klaming, Andres Gottfried-Blackmore, Ravinder K. Mittal, Christopher Puleo, Hubert Lim, Imanuel Lerman

Comprehensive Physiology 2025 16:2, e70109

https://doi.org/10.1002/cph4.70109