BIOPHARMACEUTICS & DRUG DISPOSITION, VOL. 3, 287-290 (1982)

BOOK REVIEWS

MICROSOMES, DRUG OXIDATIONS, AND CHEMICAL CARCINOGENESIS, Volumes I and 11, Minor J. Coon, Allan H. Conney, Ronald W. Estabrook, Harry V. Gelboin, James R. Gillette, and Peter J. O’Brien (Eds), Academic Press, New York, 1980.

These books are the proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Microsomes and Drug Oxidations held at Ann Arbor, Michigan in July 1979. A long series of papers on highly technical aspects of P-450 and related systems has been collected together to provide a summary of the state-of-the-art at the time in a field involving hundreds if not thousands of workers throughout the world, dominated by some of the leading investigators in biochemical pharmacology.

The books are divided into sections. In the first, chemical and physical character- ization of P-450 is considered in relation to source, techniques of preparation and a host of other variables. Then comes a series of papers on the mechanism of action of cytochrome P-450 and related enzymes in their various ro l e sd rug metabolism, steroid hydroxylation, carcinogenesis etc. Section I11 is concerned with the influence of membrane structure and protein synthesis on electron transfer components. Sections IV, V, VI, and VII review the metabolic fate of oxygenated compounds, microsomal enzymes and lipid metabolism, toxicity of foreign com- pounds as influenced by microsomal en- zyme activity, and finally, mutagenesis and carcinogenesis.

All in all, a timely and immensely valu- able compendium, dealing in welcome detail with a formidable array of informa- tion.

STEPHEN H. CURRY University of Florida

APPLIED BIOPHARMACEUTICS AND PHARMACOKINETICS, Leon Shargel and

Andrew B. C. Yu, Appleton-Century- Crofts, New York, 1980. CLINICAL PHARMACOKINETICS: Concepts and Applications, Malcolm Rowland and Thomas N. Tucker, Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia, 1980.

APPLIED PHARMACOKINETICS: Principles of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, William E. Evans, Jerome J. Schentag, and William J. Jusko (Eds), Applied Therapeutics Inc., San Francisco, 1980.

DRUG ABSORPTION AND DISPOSITION: Sta- tistical Considerations, Kenneth S. Albert (Ed.), American Pharmaceutical Associ- ation, Washington D.C., 1980.

The later part of 1980, and the first few months of 1981 comprised a vintage period for publication of books in the field of pharmacokinetics. It is convenient to consider four of the publications of this period together. All four books are dated 1980, but they mostly appeared on the market in early 1981.

The book by Shargel and Yu is a paper- back and it fits a classical mould. In the late nineteen-sixties, courses arose in phar- macy schools under the general classifica- tion of ‘Biopharmaceutics’. These courses formalized existing classes concerned with drug absorption and excretion, introduced the concept of a biological subdivision of pharmaceutics, and dealt with the evalua- tion of dosage forms by means of bio- logical data. Additionally, detailed con- sideration of models in pharmacokinetics, sometimes mathematical models, some- times hydraulic models, and sometimes paper diagram models was added to the curriculum. The pharmacokinetics com- ponent gradually increased in complexity, so that in recent years many of these courses have consisted of much theoretical pharmacokinetics and only a small amount of biology.