Das Buch enthalt Kapitel uber: M. Azria, Basel, CH: "Calcitonin - Physiologische und Pharmakologische Aspekte"U. Niemeyer, J. Engel, P. Hilgard, M. Peukert, J. Pohl, H. Sindermann, Bielefeld, FRG: "Mafosfamid - Ein Derivat des " "4-Hydroxycyclophosphamids"S. Grunwald, G.P. Pfeifer, Frankfurt, FRG: "Enzymatische DNA Methylierung""

The European School of Oncology came into existence to respond to a need for information, education and training in the field of the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. There are two main reasons why such an initiative was considered necessary. Firstly, the teaching of oncology requires a rigorously multidisciplinary approach which is difficult for the Universities to put into practice since their system is mainly disciplinary orientated. Secondly, the rate of technological development that impinges on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer has been so rapid that it is not an easy task for medical faculties to adapt their curricula flexibly. With its residential courses for organ pathologies and the seminars on new techniques (laser, monoclonal antibodies, imaging techniques etc.) or on the principal therapeutic controversies (conservative or mutilating surgery, primary or adjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy alone or integrated), it is the ambition of the European School of Oncology to fill a cultural and scientific gap and, thereby, create a bridge between the University and Industry and between these two and daily medical practice. One of the more recent initiatives of ESO has been the institution of permanent study groups, also called task forces, where a limited number of leading experts are invited to meet once a year with the aim of defining the state of the art and possibly reaching a consensus on future developments in specific fields of oncology.

Today, our world increasingly is conceived of as being molecular. An ever widening range of phenomena are described logically in terms of molecular properties and molecular interactions. The majority of known molecules are heterocyclic and heterocycles dominate the fields of biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, dyestuffs, photographic science and are of increasing importance in many others, including polymers, adhesives, and molecular engineering. Thus, the importance of heterocyclic chemistry continues to increase and this three volume work by Drs. R. R. Gupta, Mahendra Kumar and Vandana Gupta is a welcome addition to the available guides on the subject. Its scope places it in a useful niche between the single-volume texts and monographs of heterocyclic chemistry and the multivolume treatises. The authors have retained the well tried classical approach but have succeeded in placing their own individual spin on their arrangement. They have put together a well selected range from among the most important of the vast array offacts available. This factual material is ordered in a clear and logical fashion over the three volumes. The present work should be of great value to students-and practitioners of heterocyclic chemistry at all levels from the advanced undergraduate upwards. It will be of particular assistance in presenting a clear and modem view of the subject to those who use heterocycles in a variety of other fields and we wish it well.

In the beginning of this century physiology witnessed the creation of a new concept, the hormonal regulation of the work of the digestive organs. It was found that such essential functions as the flow of pancreatic juice and emptying of bile into the intestine were regulated by two hormones, secretin and cholecystokinin, respectively. Already in 1925 French authors attempted to measure the functional capacity of the exocrine pancreas by means of stimulation with secretin. The use fulness of the secretin test in this connection was definitely established by Scandinavian workers in the 1930's. In spite of the difficulties in obtaining secretin American authors succeeded in keeping the interest in the secretin test alive. The development in the 1950's of counter-current, ion exchange and chromato graphic techniques offered new possibilities in this field. The intestinal hormones were known to be relatively low molecular peptides and these could now be isolated in pure form. Thus secretin was isolated in 1961, and cholecystokinin in 1964. The newly developed methods for peptide analysis likewise soon brought us full information about the primary structure of the peptides. Gastrin, the specific stimulant of the gastric acid secretion, which was discovered in 1905 and acknowledged as a hormone in 1938, was the first of the gastrointestinal hormones for which the structure became known. This was in 1964. Synthesis soon followed. These developments are reviewed in the first chapter of the present volume."

From a logical point of view, cell division is regulated by the environment and by the ability of the cell to respond to the environmental signals. The terminology of the cell cycle, the elaborate mathematical models, and the kinetic analyses are all convenient notations and descriptions of the behavior of populations of cells. However, they tell us very little about the fundamental molecular mechanisms that control cell proliferation. Stated in other terms, what controls cell reproduction are growth factors in the environment and genes and gene products inside the cell or at its surface. This book examines the aforementioned growth factors, the study of which has made very rapid progress in the past few years. The selection of topics has been influenced by logistic considerations, but the book, as a whole, gives a broad survey of the state of the art of this exciting field. For this, thanks are due to the contributors, who have given much time to the preparation of the manuscripts and have met the deadline with a punctuality that is uncommon among biomedical scientists. I would also like to thank Ms. NORA PERRETT and the staff of Springer-Verlag for their help in editing the manuscripts and in preparing the production of the book.

A comprehensive primer and reference, this book provides pharmacists and health practitioners the relevant science and policy concepts behind biologics, biosimilars, and biobetters from a practical and clinical perspective. Explains what pharmacists need to discuss the equivalence, efficacy, safety, and risks of biosimilars with physicians, health practitioners, and patients about Guides regulators on pragmatic approaches to dealing with these drugs in the context of rapidly evolving scientific and clinical evidence Balances scientific information on complex drugs with practical information, such as a checklist for pharmacists

Volume 27 of "Progress in Drug Research" contains 5 articles, a subject index for this volume, an alphabetic subject 4ldex for volumes 1-27, and an author and subject index for altthe volumes which have so far been published. The contributions of volume 27 are particularly concerned with fungal disease, with benzimidazole anthelmintics and with the chemistry and pharmacology of quinuclidines, azoles, and nitroimida- zoles. The authors have tried, not only to summarize the current status of particular fields of drug research, but also to provide leads for future research activity. The articles of this volume will be of special value to those actively engaged in drug research, and to those who wish to keep abrest of the latest developments influencing modem therapy. In addi- tion, it is believed that the 27 volumes of "Progress in Drug Research" now available represent a useful reference work of encyclopedic charac- ter. The editor would like to take the occasion of the publication of this volume to express his gratitude both to the authors and to the readers. The authors have willingly1undertaken'the great labor of writing signifi- cant topical contributions, hnd many readers have helped the editor with criticism and advise. With these thanks, the editor would like also to express his gratitude to the publisher, Birkhauser Verlag Basel, particu- larly to Messrs. Th. Birkhauser and C. Einsele, and their associates for the excellent cooperation.

-Encapsulation by Miniemulsion Polymerization By K. Landfester and C. K. Weiss -Enzyme-Encapsulated Layer-by-Layer Assemblies: Current Status and Challenges Toward Ultimate Nanodevices By K. Ariga, Q. Ji, and J. P. Hill -Non-LBL Assembly and Encapsulation Uses 1 of Nanoparticle-Shelled Hollow Spheres 2 By G.C. Kini, S. L. Biswal, and M. S. Wong -Polymersomes: A Synthetic Biological Approach to Encapsulation and Delivery By M. Massignani, H. Lomas, and G. Battaglia -Reaction Vessels Assembled by the Sequential Adsorption of Polymers By A.D. Price, A.P.R. Johnston, G.K. Such, and F. Caruso

Eleven years have elapsed since the appearance of the first Volume and it is with great pleasure that the Editor is now able to present Volume 14. During these eleven years various fields of drug research have undergone important, partly revolutionary, changes. A number of these have already been dealt with, so that the series PROGRESS IN DRUG RESEARCH contains a comprehensive review of a substantial part of our current knowledge. The Editor is particularly grateful for the opportunity of transmitting to those connected with the development of drugs the extensive knowledge of the Authors, who, without exception, are themselves actively engaged in research. Drug research is currently in a state of transformation: reconsideration in the light of the past and reorientation with a view to the future. To a large extent this is due to the tumultuous developments in the last 20 years, developments which are unparalleled in the history of medicine and the consequences of which cannot yet be completely evaluated. Unfortunately, however, the current situation is not devoid of its unpleasant and even tragic aspects, aspects which fall outside the research worker's sphere or influence. Those connected with drug research, be they in industry, in universities or in clinics, are aware of these problems, and, as a result of this awareness, are all the more in need of an aid which will assist them in ascertaining the current position and in fixing future goals.

The present 18th volume differs from previous volumes insofar as, with the exception of two contributions, it is exclusively concerned with problems of a single field, namely Tropical Medicine. This was occasioned by the Internatio nal Symposium on the investigation and treatment of infectious tropical diseases held in Bombay in January 1974 and organized by the editor in collaboration with the Minister of Health of the State of Maharashtra, Dr. Rafiq Zakaria, the Director of the Hafl'kine Institute, Dr. B. Gaitonde, and with Dr. J. N. Banerjee, Dr. S. K. Bhattacharya and Mr. P. D'Souza. The Hafl'kine Institute celebrated on this occasion the 75th year of its existence and everyone entrusted with the organisation of the Symposium considered themselves fortunate to have been able to help in strengthening the contacts between Indian and foreign research workers, in the hope of, in this way, making a contribution to the fight against infectious tropical diseases. The editor hopes that the present 18th volume will represent comprehensive information on the topics treated at the Symposium; the 19th volume, which will soon appear, is concerned with the same area, so that the two volumes together should give a good picture of the many still unsolved problems. The editor would also like to take this opportunity of expressing his gratitude to his collaborator, Dr. A. Niif, who, as usual, performed valuable services in working over the manuscripts."

Held at Boppard, Germany, October 3-6, 1984

Over the last 25 years, few topics in medicine, and none in neurology, sur- pass Parkinson's disease from the viewpOInt of progress in understanding me- chanisms and treating symptoms. Our entire concept of anatomy (the very ex- istence of a nigrostriatal pathway) and physiology (dopaminergic trans- mission) has undergrone a revolution as the result of studies on Parkinson's disease leading to (a) the recognition of dopamine depletion as a crucial bio- chemical feature, and (b) the ability to alleviate symptoms by replenishing dopamine with levodopa. From this background has emerged a subclassifica- tion of dopamine receptors into Dl and D2 types, together with the develop- ment and therapeutic application of synthetic molecules that function as agonists at dopamine receptors. The pharmacological interrelationship be- tween parkinsonism (inadequate dopamine) and chorea (excessive dopamine) has been elucidated because dopaminomimetic agents were found to alleviate parkinsonism and induce chorea, while dopamine blocking drugs induced parkinsonism and alleviated chorea. Pharmacokinetic manipulation of levo- dopa achieved by adding extracerebral decarboxylase inhibitors (carbidopa, benserazide) decreased certain side effects and resulted in efficacy being at- tained with lower dosage. Extracerebral dopamine receptor blockers have proved invaluable in decreasing the emesis of dopaminomimetics, because the dopaminoceptive chemoreceptor trigger zone is located outside the blood- brain barrier. Recently, novel routes of administration of antiparkinson drugs, such as subcutaneous infusion, have been explored in an attempt to achieve more evenly sustained blood concentrations of therapeutic agents.

The construction of this volume has been guided by two personal convictions. Experience in the field of experimental chemotherapy, both in the pharmaceutical industry and academia, has convinced us that recent quantum technological advances in biochemistry, molecular biology, and immunology will permit and, indeed, necessitate an increasingly greater use of rational drug development in the future than has been the custom up to now. In Part l, therefore, we asked our contributors to provide detailed reviews covering the biology of the malaria parasites and their relation with their hosts, the experimental procedures including culture techniques that are necessary to take a drug from primary screening to clinical trial, and an account of antimalarial drug resistance. Our second conviction is that many research workers are all too loath to learn from the lessons of the past. For this reason we asked the contributors to Part 2 of this volume to review very thoroughly the widely scattered but voluminous literature on those few chemical groups that have provided the antimalarial drugs in clinical use at the present time. Much can be learned from the history of their development and the problems that have arisen with them in man. Some indeed may still have much to offer if they can be deployed in better ways than they are at present. This question has been taken up by several authors.

The pharmacokinetics of digitalis glycosides have been the subject of extensive re view (IISALO, 1977; ARONSON, 1980; PERRIER et ai., 1977). Research on glycoside kinetics has progressed at a rapid pace, requiring continuing reevaluation of the state of our understanding of this problem. The present article focuses on the effect of disease states (renal, gastrointestinal, thyroid, and cardiac) on the absorption, distribution, and clearance of a number of digitalis glycosides. Evidence is critically reviewed, and interpreted with respect to possible clinical implications. A. Renal Insufficiency I. Strophanthin Strophanthin disposition in renal failure has been evaluated in only two studies. KRAMER et ai. (1970) determined an elimination half-life of 14 h in normals as com pared to 60 h in anuric patients. Similar results were reported by BRASS and Pm LIPPS (1970) using tritiated strophanthin. They found a half-life value of 18 h in healthy individuals as compared to 68 h in anuric patients. The findings clearly in dicate that the elimination half-life of strophanthin is prolonged in renal failure."

Parasitic diseases are the most widespread of all the major diseases, currently 9 affecting about 3 x 10 people and innumerable domestic animals. There is no doubt that among these parasitic diseases, the helminthic infections of the gastrointestinal tract are about the most important because of their global distribution, their high prevalence, their effects on the nutritional status of men and animals, their effects on the physical and mental development of children, and their economic effects on the production of animals. Anthelmintics are important elements in the control of these gastrointestinal helminthic infections. In this volume the editors and authors have tried to find a way through the immense amount of information on anthelmintic drugs that is scattered throughout the literature. Different authors have critically examined this information from different angles. However, the aim of all has been to provide the information needed by veterinarians, physicians, and public health workers to select the most suitable drug for a given situation.

The literature on co-trimoxazole (TMP jSMX) is voluminous, but in the main it consists of research reports. The same can be said of various symposia that have appeared. This volume attempts to present the current status of this antibacterial combination in a series of topical reviews, each of which represents a comprehensive summary of a segment of the field. The editor acknowledges with appreciation the help provided by JACKIE, JENKS, LEE KUYPER, and particularly, RUTH Ross in the preparation of the Subject Index, and thanks Burroughs Wellcome Co. for providing access to library and word processing facilities. Research Triangle Park GEORGE H. HITCHINGS List of Authors Dr. J. F. ACAR, Hospital Saint-Joseph, 7, rue Pierre-Larousse, F-75674 Paris Cedex 14 Dr. N. ANAND, National Information Centre for Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, Central Drug Research Institute, Chattar Manzil, P. O. Box No. 173, Lucknow, 226001jIND Dr. D. W. BARRY, The Wellcome Research Laboratories, Burroughs Wellcome Co. , 3030 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709jUSA Dr. R. E. BLACK, Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland, Division of Infectious Diseases, 29 S. Greene Street, Bressler Building, Room 404, Baltimore, MD 21201jUSA Dr. J. J. BURCHALL, Department of Microbiology, The Wellcome Research Laboratories, Burroughs Wellcome Co. , 3030 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709jUSA Dr. S. R. M. BUSHBY, The Wellcome Research Laboratories, Burroughs Wellcome Co. , 3030 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709jUSA Dr. M. L.

Volume 26 of 'Progress in Drug Research' contains 10 articles, a subject index for this volume, an alphabetic subject index for volumes 1-26, and an author and subject index for all the volumes which have so far been published. The contributions of volume 26 cover a wide field of drug research and therapy, and some are directed towards tropical deseases. As in previous volumes, the authors have also tried not only to summa rise the current status of particular fields of drug research, but also to provide leads for future research activity. The articles in this volume will be of special value not only to those actively engaged in resolving the diverse problems in drug research, but also to those who wish to keep abrest of the latest developments influencing modern therapy. In addition, it is believed that the 26 volumes of "Progress in Drug Research" now available represent a useful reference work of an encyclo paedic character."

In the preface to Part I of this volume, which appeared in 1966, we stated: " ... we had to leave the Antihistaminics for another volume of unpredictable dimensions. In 1924, eight pages inserted in a Chapter on Mutterkorn by Arthur R.Cushing were considered enough, in Vol. II, Part II, pp. 1319-1326 of the Hand buch. Now 922 pages did not suffice to cover all aspects of the subject ... the subject has been expanded in so many directions, that the anti histaminic part had to be excluded from the present volume. Possibly, another thousand pages will be necessary to cover what remains of the subject."* This prediction was fulfilled, and the subject of histamine has grown to such an extent that dealing with the antihistaminics only in Part II would be quite inadequate. It is imperative to include the large number of recent findings on the subject of histamine, namely the splitting of its pharmacologic receptors, and the great variety of new contributions on, its participation in physiopathologic phenomena, metabolism and interaction with newly found mediators."

International Symposium. IFPMA Symposium, Geneva 30-31 October 1984

Isoquinolines form one of the largest groups of plant alkaloids and they in clude a number of valuable clinical agents such as codeine, morphine, eme tine and tubocurarine. Research into different aspects of isoquinolines con tinues in profusion, attracting the talents of botanists, chemists, bioche mists, analysts, pharmacists and pharmacologists. Many of these aspects are of an interdisciplinary nature, and in April 1984, The Phytochemical Society of Europe arranged a 3-day symposium on The Chemistry and Bi ology of Isoquinoline Alkaloids in order to provide a forum for scientists of differing disciplines who are united by a common interest in this one class of natural product. Each chapter in this volume is based on a lecture given at this symposium. Attempts have been made to make the aims and objectives, experimental findings and conclusions reached, intelligible to scientists of differing backgrounds. The introductory chapter, which is mainly based on a historical discus sion, stresses that plants containing isoquinolines have proved to be both a boon and a curse to mankind. The Opium Poppy, Papaver somniferum, produces the medicinally used alkaloids morphine, codeine, noscapine and papaverine whilst it also continues to provide drugs of abuse, particularly morphine and its readily prepared O, O-diacetyl derivative, heroin. Numer ous other alkaloids have been isolated from other members of the Papaver acea, and a knowledge of their presence and distribution within the various species has proved a useful adjunct to systematic botanical studies."

The Editorial Board of the Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology apparently did not hurry in suggesting production of a volume on glucagon since the present opus is number sixty-six in the series. This fact is even more striking if we consider that 34 volumes published over about eight years will separate the books on glucagon from those on insulin on library shelves, whereas only a few microns separate the cells manufacturing these two polypeptides within the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas! Numerous factors have probably caused this dicrimination; four of them are: First, insulin deficiency or resistance is the cause of one of the most serious and distressing diseases, diabetes mellitus, which affects millions of people, whereas glucagon deficiency is apparently an extremely rare disorder, for which detailed reports are published of individual cases whenever they occur. Second, since its discovery in 1921 by BANTING and BEST, insulin has been irreplaceable for the treatment of the most severe forms of diabetes, whereas, in contrast, glucagon was until recently considered a relatively minor therapeutic agent. Third, whereas insulin is a compound which has been well characterized since the pioneering work of SANGER and its biosynthesis clearly identified by STEINER and his co-workers, glucagon, also well characterized chemically, has suffered from its parenthood with the so-called "glucagon-like immunoreactive substances", an incompletely defined series of immunologically related polypeptides present in the gut, the pancreas and some other parts of the body.

Following the monographs by STRAUB (1924) and LENDLE (1935), this is the third contribution to the "Pharmacology of Cardiac Glycosides" within the Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, which was founded by ARTHUR HEFFTER and con tinued by WOLFGANG HEUBNER. Because of the need created by the length of time that had elapsed since LENDLE'S work, the editorial board requested the rapid ap pearance of this 56th volume, which represents current knowledge of the pharma cology and clinical pharmacology of cardiac glycosides. In order to avoid any delay, numerous authors were invited to contribute because shorter contributions take less time to prepare and are consequently more up-to-date. The disadvantage is that some overlap between certain chapters could not be avoided, despite the editor's efforts. Overlapping can, however, actually be useful, in that differing opinions may be provided and topical issues discussed from varying viewpoints. This re minds the reader that scientific horizons in medicine should often be widened or revised. I would like to thank DR. ALANNA Fox and DR. K. ANANTHARAMAN for their help and advice in the revision of certain chapters. I am also grateful to Springer Verlag, and particularly to MR. WINSTANLEY and MR. EMERSON, for their contribu tion to the completion of this volume through translation and corrections. In con clusion I would like to thank MRS. WALKER, MR. BISCHOFF, MRS. SEEKER, and MR. BERGSTEDT of Springer-Verlag for their helpful support."