This volume is a collection of the presentations given at the sixth international research conference, Blood Cells as a Tissue, at The Lankenau Hospital, October 30 and 31, 1969. The conference was supported in part by the following pharmaceutical industries: Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, Illinois; Baxter Laboratories, Inc., . Morton Grove, Illinois; Bristol Laboratories, Syracuse, New York; Burroughs Wellcome and Company, Tuckahoe, New York; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana; Geigy Pharmaceuticals, Ardsley, New York; Merck Sharp & Dohme Post Graduate Program, West Point, Penn sylvania; Riker Laboratory, Northridge, California; Schering Corporation, Bloomfield, New Jersey; Squibb Research Institute, New Brunswick, New Jersey; and Smith Kline and French Labora tories, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This valuable support is gratefully acknowledged. The Conference Committee is especially indebted to the four chairmen, Dr. Allan J. Erslev, Dr. William J. Williams, Dr. R. Philip Custer and Dr. Sol Sherry, for their advice and guidance in the formulation of the program. Weare also grateful to the speakers for their splendid cooperation, and to all participants for their stimulating interest. The continuing support of the members of the Board of Trustees, of the Hospital Administration, and the Women's Volunteer Service played a major role in the success of the conference. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the many members of the Hospital staff who contributed so willingly of their time to make the conference possible. A special vote of thanks goes to Mr. Ralph Hollerorth, Mrs. Carolyn Hyatt and Mrs."

The recent symposium and the appearance of this new book on Drugs Affecting Lipid Metabolism take place at a very unusual time for the development of this area. After the publication and wide acceptance of the results of the cholestyramine study by the Lipid Clinics in the USA, showing for the first time a direct association between drug induced reduction of plasma levels of total and LDL cholesterol and coronary heart disease in a high risk population, an unparalleled interest in drugs and other procedures able to control plasma cholesterol levels has been activated. Two other significant events occurred during 1986 and 1987: the availability of compact instruments for the immediate determination of total cholesterol in plasma or total blood and the developments of new agents such as the inhibitors of HMG-CoA (hydroxymethyl glutaryl CoA) reductase and ACAT inhibitors, with potentially great effect on plasma lipid levels after oral administration. These new advances, together with the combined efforts of cell biologists and lipoprotein chemists, have set the pace for an exciting period of research and clinical applications of diets and drugs af fecting lipids. This volume, which includes the work of many of the leading world laboratories, represents an authoritative and up-to-date ap praisal of the status of the art and a stimulus to future research at laboratory and clinical level in an area of opportunity for clinical and preventive medicine."