The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is found more commonly in women than men. It is more prevalent in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and chronic pelvic pain, all syndromes characterized by pain and found predominantly in women. This article reviews evidence for a role of biological sex factors and gender on the pathways mediating visceral pain. The effect of gonadal hormones on gastrointestinal motility and the sensory afferent pathway and central processing of visceral stimuli and the contribution of gender role to the clinical presentation are discussed. Although differences in responses to treatment modalities between genders exist, the approach to IBS patients in both genders is quite similar. Nevertheless, a special attention to gender role and stress-related factors should be addressed. New developments in research, outlined in the paper, might bring more gender-specific treatments in the future.

The two methods are not interchangeable but appeared to be complementary: fMRI was more sensitive, whereas c-fos had much greater resolution.

An infectious, cytopathic paramyxovirus was rescued from the peripheral blood leukocytes of a patient with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) by cocultivation procedures. Cells infected with the virus (1) demonstrated polykaryocytosis, (2) contained cytoplasmic inclusion bodies of paramyxoviral nucleocapsids, (3) hemadsorbed monkey erythrocytes, and (4) reacted with fluorescein-conjugated antisera to measles virus. On the basis of these observations, the virus was initially believed to be measles-like virus similar to those that have been rescued from other patients with SSPE. However, subsequent immunologic and molecular studies showed that the virus was distinct from measles virus and was more closely related to simian virus 5. These findings suggest that paramyxoviruses other than measles virus can be nonproductively carried by patients with SSPE and should not be designated as "measles like" or "measles related" solely on the basis of their biologic characteristics.

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the gut. Alterations in NO mediated responses have been described in diabetic animals. The presence of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) reflects the potential for NO synthesis and is found in neurons in the myenteric plexus. The aim of this study was to determine changes in nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression in the myenteric plexus of the gastrointestinal tract of diabetic rats at three months of streptozotocin-induced diabetes, compared to age matched controls, using immunohistochemistry. Diabetic animals showed a decrease in NOS expression in the antrum, with 59.1 +/- 7.3% of neurons being positive for NOS in diabetes compared to 81.2 +/- 4.7% in controls (P < 0.05). NOS expression in duodenum, ileum, and colon of diabetic animals was not statistically different from controls. Decreased expression of NOS in antrum may contribute to altered gastric emptying observed in diabetics.