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Advances in Toxicological Methodology
Fd Cosmet. ToxicoL Vol. 3, pp. 681-688. Pergamon Press 1965. Printed in Great Britain
BOOK
REVIEWS
Advances in Toxicological Methodology. Proceedings o f the European Society for the Study of Drug Toxicity held in Bad Homburg, January 1965. Vol. V. International Congress Series No. 90. Excerpta Medica Foundation, Amsterdam, 1965. pp. 149. 42s. There should be a rule that any report claiming to present "Advances" should begin by indicating with the utmost clarity just what the advances are. The claims should be subjected to the same scrutiny as they would receive ff they were patent claims; and, if they were found to be unjustified, the burden of current literature would be just a little lighter for their summary rejection. The first two papers in the volume under review would not have survived such critical examination. This is a great pity, for the subjects--liver and kidney function tests--are of the utmost importance. As an account of classical renal physiology, the paper by Peters would grace a textbook on the subject, but as a description of recent developments, surely urinary enzymes and histochemistry of the kidney deserve some mention. There is need also to take cognisance of the sterling efforts of Balazs and his colleagues in the field of renal function tests (Cited h7 F.C.T. 1964, 2, 290). Serum enzymes and isoenzymes, the mechanisms by which they are released into the circulation and the characteristics that enable their source to be traced--these topics are dealt with in masterly fashion by B. Hess. There is a brave attempt also to correlate localized or generalized increases in cellular permeability with the sites of action of the agents that bring about such increases. The applications of serum enzyme measurements in toxicological studies are further dealt with in two papers which cover the use of dogs as well as rats. Many valuable points emerge from these reports, not least the important effect of haemolysis on enzyme activity in rat-serum samples. Next it is the turn of morphological changes to be considered, principally in the liver and principally by electron microscopy. The second of two interesting papers ends on a rather pessimistic note regarding the difficulty of correlating morphological observations with the limited number of functional tests applied. Attempts to bring about a marriage of the two by means of cytological approaches (autoradiography, histochemistry and electron microscopy) require special experimental conditions. It is not yet clear whether the extra effort is justified by results. The final paper on the use of the chick embryo reaches substantially the same conclusions as Clegg (Fd Cosmet. Toxicol. 1964, 2, 717) and several other workers.
Chemical Carcinogenesis and Cancers. By W. C. Hueper and W. D. Conway. C. C. Thomas, Illinois, 1964. American Lecture Series publ. no. 585. pp. xx+744. £8. It is just as well that the British Industrial Biological Research Association (BIBRA) does not pamper its staff with carpets; for, if it did, this reviewer's would long since have been bitten to shreds. Lack of such an outlet for pent-up emotions was felt even more keenly than usual on reading this book. 681
BOOK
REVIEWS
Advances in Toxicological Methodology. Proceedings o f the European Society for the Study of Drug Toxicity held in Bad Homburg, January 1965. Vol. V. International Congress Series No. 90. Excerpta Medica Foundation, Amsterdam, 1965. pp. 149. 42s. There should be a rule that any report claiming to present "Advances" should begin by indicating with the utmost clarity just what the advances are. The claims should be subjected to the same scrutiny as they would receive ff they were patent claims; and, if they were found to be unjustified, the burden of current literature would be just a little lighter for their summary rejection. The first two papers in the volume under review would not have survived such critical examination. This is a great pity, for the subjects--liver and kidney function tests--are of the utmost importance. As an account of classical renal physiology, the paper by Peters would grace a textbook on the subject, but as a description of recent developments, surely urinary enzymes and histochemistry of the kidney deserve some mention. There is need also to take cognisance of the sterling efforts of Balazs and his colleagues in the field of renal function tests (Cited h7 F.C.T. 1964, 2, 290). Serum enzymes and isoenzymes, the mechanisms by which they are released into the circulation and the characteristics that enable their source to be traced--these topics are dealt with in masterly fashion by B. Hess. There is a brave attempt also to correlate localized or generalized increases in cellular permeability with the sites of action of the agents that bring about such increases. The applications of serum enzyme measurements in toxicological studies are further dealt with in two papers which cover the use of dogs as well as rats. Many valuable points emerge from these reports, not least the important effect of haemolysis on enzyme activity in rat-serum samples. Next it is the turn of morphological changes to be considered, principally in the liver and principally by electron microscopy. The second of two interesting papers ends on a rather pessimistic note regarding the difficulty of correlating morphological observations with the limited number of functional tests applied. Attempts to bring about a marriage of the two by means of cytological approaches (autoradiography, histochemistry and electron microscopy) require special experimental conditions. It is not yet clear whether the extra effort is justified by results. The final paper on the use of the chick embryo reaches substantially the same conclusions as Clegg (Fd Cosmet. Toxicol. 1964, 2, 717) and several other workers.
Chemical Carcinogenesis and Cancers. By W. C. Hueper and W. D. Conway. C. C. Thomas, Illinois, 1964. American Lecture Series publ. no. 585. pp. xx+744. £8. It is just as well that the British Industrial Biological Research Association (BIBRA) does not pamper its staff with carpets; for, if it did, this reviewer's would long since have been bitten to shreds. Lack of such an outlet for pent-up emotions was felt even more keenly than usual on reading this book. 681