Advances in cyclic nucleotide research volume 15

T I P S - September 1084

4111

includes good surveys on benzodiazepine metabolism and on phannacokinetic models. Special attention is paid to the effects of diseases, age and coadministration of other drugs on pharmacokinetic parameters; to the use of benzodiazepines in treating insomnia; and to the safety of benzodiazepines in terms of their effects on performance. It is somewhat surprising that more than two decades after introducing benzodiazepines into clinical practice there are still disagreements about whether serious problems result from their long term use. While Prescott points out the benzodiazepines' adverse side effects, Rick61s emphasizes the positive features of these drugs. Both, however, agree that benzodiazepines have a wide margin of safety. 'Indeed, it has been stated that the only way to kill a laboratory animal with a benzodiazepine is to smother it under a mound of tablets!" (p. 258). The last section, 'Selected Topics in Clinical Use', is concerned with benzodiazepine use in treating anxiety, neurological disorders, endogenous depression, and schizophrenia. Several authors offered some interesting 3hilosophical and sociological insights, pointing out

the often ignored positive role that anxiety plays in personal growth: anxien,, is a "fundamental component of human existence" (p. 31 !), as it "precedes and accompanies every human a c t i o n . . . favouring new. superior levels of egointegration" (p. 288). This issue is very well discussed by Cassano, +ho emphasized the difference between f e a r - "a

Old and new in cyclic nucleotides

of the best chapters. Other "old topics" revisited include careful, informative reviews on the role of cAMP in cell proliferation by Boynton and Whitfield (Ottawa). This chapter is written ~ith excellent pedagogic venom to navigate any student of the topic through the enormous, often contradicto~' literature. It serves as an excellent introduction to the state of the art in the field. The same can be said about the impressive. 74S

Advances in Cyclic Nucleotide Research Volume 15 edited by Paul Greengard and G. Alan Robison, Raven Press, 19.~¢3.$79.50 (x + 522 pages) ISBN 0 89094 881 9 The average reader will pick up a new volume of a well-known, high-quality series, browse through the table of contents and select but a few of the titles, leaving the rest to be read by others. The fifteenth volume of Advances in Cyclic Nucleotide Research is not a protocol of a meeting as the previous volume was: it is rather a collection of excellent invited reviews ranging from the role of cyclic nucleotides in the nervous system to the role of cAMP in bacteria. It is difficult to find a unifying theme, and perhaps there should not be one, in a wide and fast growing field. There is a place for an extensive and critical review of 'old' topics such as the regulatory role of cAMP in the metabolism in bacteria, how cAMP influences expression of individual operons and about the mechanism of action of CAP-cAMP complex. Ullmann and Danehin (Paris) give an extensive review of these topics in one

primitive state o f mind found throughout

the animal kingdom" and anxiety - a "part of conscious experience (which) takes shape as a "'typically human" function or attitude. Thus the age of anxiety could be said to begin with the emergence of Homo sapiens" (p. 288). It is when anxiety impairs the well being and proper functioning that it becomes a negative force. One should question opinions and common beliefs: Is "modernization" of ~ ' i e t y accompanied bv elevated levels of anxiety, or has it rather increased the awareness and openness about anxie~'-related problems? Could increased anxie~' indicate a positive evolution of more sophisticated individuals with higher expectations than before? Or. conversely, does it express a diminished ability to cope ~ t h anxiety and a desire to avoid challenge': Although benzodiazepines are well

Eaonaous, ofa,a ~

appreciated in medicine, their wide.spread use and availabilit~ ma~ create situations of drug abuse, a problem of considerable otmcern in the scientific and the "popular" press. R=ckels wan,s against the tendency of lay authors to form opinions against the use of benzodiazepines mthout their having proper sufficient knowledge of the topic, thus leading to "therapeutic nihilism" (p. 31t5). Oft the other hand. during the round table discussion Hollister pointed out that overuse and misuse of benzodiazepines may result from merprt.~cnption by physicians. This opimon reflects the spreading patient mistrust that will inevitably jeopardize doctor-patient relationships. Therefore. the nect'~it~ el establishing guidelines for the pn..~:riptio.i and u ~ of benzodiazepines cannot be o~eremphasized. It is hoped that the justifiable ct;ncems of the author~ of this l~ok ~ill entourage more responsible scientific. medical and public attitudes for the use of drugs in medicine. RIVKA

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]"tld dUl/h ~r t-~ ~ l'. ,~t-d, ~C.+~ral I't'l/~ ~=t ,.t! :ht" l)¢)'h:r/~'I'/t'PI/ Of" .%t'l=r~ ~hl~ ft.+~ t . ~hl!;t~ ~rd i P;it t'rxl.~ .~t t', =,,/
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I 54

references-strong rexie~ on ~.'~chc nucleofidc~ and the ner~ous ~vstem bx Drummond
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402

T I P S - September 1984

respect to invertebrate neurons their role is discussed. The extensive list of references certai,dy helps to find the apwopriate information. An excellent review is devoted to the interaction of steroids with cyclic nucleotide system in amphibian oocytes by Mailer (Denver) and to the enzymology and actions of the cGMP-dependent protein kinase'by the most authoritative researchers of the enzyme: Lincoln and Corbin (Columbia and Nashville). The control of mntractility by Caz+ and cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein phosphorylation is reviewed by Demaille and Pechere's group (Montpeilier); a

straightforward, lu,'id chapter. The controversial role of cAMP in photosynthetic organisms is dealt with in a very short paper by Francko (Stillwater) while the cGMP effects on the membrane potential in vertebrate retinal rod outer segments are briefly described by Miller (New Haven). The most :fun' part of the book is a personal, reflective review on cAMP egress fiom metazoan cell~ by Barber and Butcher (Houston). It should be read by each who picks up the book because it is good science, and because it brings into focus the possible intercellular role of exported cAMP.

The extracellular role of cAMP is reviewed in Dictyostelium discoideum where extracellular cAMP binding to cell surface receptors serves as an important signal, and as a major regulator of the adenylate cyclase activity by Devreotes (Baltimore). To summarize, this volume maintains the tradition of high quMity we have come to expect from this series.

Calling all PAFologists

Related Ether Lipids, which was held in Paris in June 1983. It contains 42 chapters from those investigators invited to present oral communications at the Symposium. The book is in camera-ready format, and each contribution is accompanied by a summary in French. Typographical errors are few and the general standard of presentation is good. However, the quality of presentation would have been enhanced by the adoption of a standardized reference style and by the inclusion of a subject index. Surely editors of Symposia proceedings realize that subject indices are of more use to readers than are author indices? The volume is organized into seven distinct sections. The chemistry and synthesis of 1-O-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glyceryi3-phosphorylcholine and numerous structural analogues constitute the first two sections (8 chapters). This is followed by separate sections dealing with the origins of PAl=(6 chapters), its effects on platelets (7 chapters) and its effects on cells and organs (8 chapters). Thereafter, the enzymatic pathways of PAF biosynthesis and inactivation are discussed (7 chapters) and the book ends with a dismssion

(6 chapters) of the potential pathophysiological roles of the agent(s). Inevitably, there is some overlap between chapters: this occurs infrequently with the exception of the four chapters dealing with binding of PAF to platelets. The various chapters are written either as mini-reviews or as scientific papers. Of the former, I especially enjoyed the contributions of Marigold (Synthesis of 1 - O.alkyl. 2 - acetyl- sn -glycero -3. phos phocholines and analogous compounds), Henson and Lynch (Cellular origins" of PAIr), Chignard and colleagues (PAFacether synthesis by p/atdets) and Snyder and co-workers (Enzymatic pathways for platelet-activating factor). The latter were informative, but much of the content has appeared elsewhere in the scientific literature, often with the same authors. This indicates that the organizers, and/or French cuisine, were successful in attracting many of the acknowledged authorities in this field. From these Proceedings, it is now evident that platelet-activating factor does (a lot) more than activate platelets. It is produced by platelets, endothelial cells, leukocytes, mast cells, macrophages and kidney cells. It has effects on

Platelet-activating Factor and Structurally Related Ether Lipids edited by J. Benreniste and B. Amoux, Elsevier Science Publishers, 1983. $73.00, Dfl. 190 (xviii + 370 pages) ISBN 0 444 80.552 4

Platelet-activating factor, known by the acronym PAF, was the term coined by Benveniste and colleagues in 1972 to describe the biological effects of a molecule secreted from IgE-sensitized rabbit basophils following exposure to specific antigen. Subsequent studies established the phospholipid nature of the molecule, and in 1979 the groups of Benveniste and Hanahan independently showed that the biochemical and physicochemical properties of PAl: were shared by the ether fipid 1-O-alkyl-2-acetylsn-glyceryi-~phosphorylcholit~e. The French group re-named PAF as PAFacether whereas the Americans preferred the acronym of the che~dcal constituent, namely AGEPC (acetylglyceryl ether phosphorylcholine). Contemporaneously, Muirhead's groap were investigating a hypotensive agent derived from the adrenal medulla which they termed "anti-hypertensive polar renomedullasy lipid' (or APRL). In 1979, APRL was identified as a conglomerate of 1-O-alkyi ether lipids analogous to PAF-acether/AGEPC. The structural elucidation of PAF and APRL as biologically active phospholipids stimulated research interest in ether plmspholipids and, almost bp~ably, precipitated an International Symposium on the subject. This volume c~mitutes the procee~gs of the Ist International Symposimn on PlateletActivating Factor and Structurally

TAMASBARTFAI MARIELOUISE1J6RNHAMMAR Theauthors are researchworkersin the Depanmem of Biochemistry,ArtheniusL~boratory,Stockholm, Sweden.