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Biology of cholinergic function
Book Reviews
810 Biology of Cholinergic
Function, ALAN M. GOLDBERG& ISRAELHANIN (Eds). Raven Press, New York (1976). 716 pp.,
$42.00. CHOLINERGICbiology has become so large a subject that it is increasingly difficult for workers to keep abreast of developments in their own field, let alone those in related areas. For this reason the intention of the Editors to produce an ‘integrated overview’ of cholinergic function must be welcomed by everyone concerned with the subject. Unfortunately the time when such an intention could be fully realized has probably passed. To encompass all the ramifications of the subject, the overview has to be contributed by several different authors and integration must inevitably suffer. What has emerged is a logically conceived but patchy book with some good chapters, some bad chapters, some gaps and some overlaps. A particularly useful chapter is that by Barrett and Magleby on the ‘Physiology of Cholinergic Transmission’. It is informative, critical and easy to read. Some of the other chapters tend to be catalogues of data which are useful sources but mundane reading. The chapters on biochemical and enzymological aspects are in general comprehensive, particularly Main’s discussion of cholinesterases and their inhibitors. However, the possible involvement of cyclic-guanosine monophosphate in cholinergic function, although given a passing mention in several places, is nowhere critically discussed; another subject receiving surprisingly scant attention is the acetylcholine receptor. Karczmar’s chapter, ‘Central Actions of Acetylcholine, Cholinomimetics and Related Drugs’, is one of the most up-to-date in the book. It covers a range of topics including diurnal rhythms, the basis of drug effects on the electroencephalogram, and cholinergic involvement in sleep and homeostatic mechanisms. Karczmar’s consideration of cholinergic mechanisms in behaviour and learning overlaps, to some extent, the later chapter on behaviour by Hingtgen and Aprison. Similarly the section, in small print, on the interplay between acetylcholine, catecholamines and serotonin echoes parts of the previous chapter, by Roth
The Impact of Biology on Modern Psychiatry,
and Bunney, which is devoted to the interaction of cholinergic neurons with other chemically defined neuronal systems. The anatomy of cholinergic neurons, tissue culture, cholinergic neurons in the invertebrate central nervous system, cholinergic innervation of different types of muscle and trophic interactions between nerve and muscle are among other aspects discussed. The trophic interaction between neurons is not specifically considered. The last four chapters deal with pathological conditions related to cholinergic mechanisms. These include Parkinsonism, Huntington’s chorea, hyperactivity, neuropsychiatric syndromes and myasthenia gravis. In the discussion of myasthesia, the acetylcholine receptor is again largely ignored. The book ends with four appendices. The first gives a limited list of quantitative assay methods for choline, acetylcholine, choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase. The next two give values for acetylcholine, choline acetyltransferase and choline in brain and other tissues of various species. The last appendix shows how acetylcholine and choline levels are altered by drugs. A disappointing feature of these appendices is that they have not been updated. With one exception, none of the papers cited in Appendix III and IV appeared later than 1973. Some misprints are inevitable in a book of this length but the frequent mis-spelling of names in the text and references is irritating. Perhaps one of the most misleading textual errors is the substitution, on p. 396, of ‘cerebellar cortex’ for ‘cerebral cortex’ in the list of regions likely to contain cholinergic synapses. The subject index is not entirely adequate and there is no author index. Despite these limitations the book should prove a useful reference source. Furthermore, the picture it gives of cholinergic function, while not totally integrated, is less fragmented than that to be found in publications derived from Symposia. ANN SILVER
E. S. GERSHON, S. S. KETY, R. H. BELMAKER& M. ROSENBAUM(Eds).
Plenum Press, New York (1977). 530.00. IN AN actively developing field such as Biological Psychiatry special importance attaches to the evaluation of the new information coming from research units employing different disciplines and working in different parts of the world. We can therefore welcome the appearance of this volume compiled by a group of leading investigators, mainly from Israel and the U.S.A., who took part in a symposium held in December 1975 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Jerusalem Mental Health Centre, Ezrath Nashim. The subject matter of the book is presented in three main sections, the first of which, entitled ‘Neurochemical Studies in Human Psychopathology’, deals especially with the mechanism of action of antipsychotic drugs and other psychopharmacological agents in influencing the symptoms of schizophrenic and manic-depressive psychoses. A chapter by H. M. van Praag discusses various aspects of the dopamine hypothesis: others deal with adenylate cyclase activity, prolactin levels and electrolyte distribution
in human subjects during treatment with drugs. Data are reported on amine turnover and on antibody levels to viruses in psychiatric illness. In the second section of the book the main theme is the way in which learning, and various forms of behavioural activity, are influenced by the catecholamines. The third section, dealing with genetic studies, includes a chapter in which observations on the biological and adoptive relatives of adoptees who became schizophrenic are summarized by S. S. Kety. Genetic and biological studies of affective and schizoaffective illness are described by E. S. Gershon and by J. Mendlewicz. One feature of this book which is of special value is the application to clinical problems of methods developed in research in the basic sciences. The cost is a reminder that books of this kind are becoming increasingly expensive, but this is a book that could be of value to anyone interested in psychiatric research. D.
RICHTER
810 Biology of Cholinergic
Function, ALAN M. GOLDBERG& ISRAELHANIN (Eds). Raven Press, New York (1976). 716 pp.,
$42.00. CHOLINERGICbiology has become so large a subject that it is increasingly difficult for workers to keep abreast of developments in their own field, let alone those in related areas. For this reason the intention of the Editors to produce an ‘integrated overview’ of cholinergic function must be welcomed by everyone concerned with the subject. Unfortunately the time when such an intention could be fully realized has probably passed. To encompass all the ramifications of the subject, the overview has to be contributed by several different authors and integration must inevitably suffer. What has emerged is a logically conceived but patchy book with some good chapters, some bad chapters, some gaps and some overlaps. A particularly useful chapter is that by Barrett and Magleby on the ‘Physiology of Cholinergic Transmission’. It is informative, critical and easy to read. Some of the other chapters tend to be catalogues of data which are useful sources but mundane reading. The chapters on biochemical and enzymological aspects are in general comprehensive, particularly Main’s discussion of cholinesterases and their inhibitors. However, the possible involvement of cyclic-guanosine monophosphate in cholinergic function, although given a passing mention in several places, is nowhere critically discussed; another subject receiving surprisingly scant attention is the acetylcholine receptor. Karczmar’s chapter, ‘Central Actions of Acetylcholine, Cholinomimetics and Related Drugs’, is one of the most up-to-date in the book. It covers a range of topics including diurnal rhythms, the basis of drug effects on the electroencephalogram, and cholinergic involvement in sleep and homeostatic mechanisms. Karczmar’s consideration of cholinergic mechanisms in behaviour and learning overlaps, to some extent, the later chapter on behaviour by Hingtgen and Aprison. Similarly the section, in small print, on the interplay between acetylcholine, catecholamines and serotonin echoes parts of the previous chapter, by Roth
The Impact of Biology on Modern Psychiatry,
and Bunney, which is devoted to the interaction of cholinergic neurons with other chemically defined neuronal systems. The anatomy of cholinergic neurons, tissue culture, cholinergic neurons in the invertebrate central nervous system, cholinergic innervation of different types of muscle and trophic interactions between nerve and muscle are among other aspects discussed. The trophic interaction between neurons is not specifically considered. The last four chapters deal with pathological conditions related to cholinergic mechanisms. These include Parkinsonism, Huntington’s chorea, hyperactivity, neuropsychiatric syndromes and myasthenia gravis. In the discussion of myasthesia, the acetylcholine receptor is again largely ignored. The book ends with four appendices. The first gives a limited list of quantitative assay methods for choline, acetylcholine, choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase. The next two give values for acetylcholine, choline acetyltransferase and choline in brain and other tissues of various species. The last appendix shows how acetylcholine and choline levels are altered by drugs. A disappointing feature of these appendices is that they have not been updated. With one exception, none of the papers cited in Appendix III and IV appeared later than 1973. Some misprints are inevitable in a book of this length but the frequent mis-spelling of names in the text and references is irritating. Perhaps one of the most misleading textual errors is the substitution, on p. 396, of ‘cerebellar cortex’ for ‘cerebral cortex’ in the list of regions likely to contain cholinergic synapses. The subject index is not entirely adequate and there is no author index. Despite these limitations the book should prove a useful reference source. Furthermore, the picture it gives of cholinergic function, while not totally integrated, is less fragmented than that to be found in publications derived from Symposia. ANN SILVER
E. S. GERSHON, S. S. KETY, R. H. BELMAKER& M. ROSENBAUM(Eds).
Plenum Press, New York (1977). 530.00. IN AN actively developing field such as Biological Psychiatry special importance attaches to the evaluation of the new information coming from research units employing different disciplines and working in different parts of the world. We can therefore welcome the appearance of this volume compiled by a group of leading investigators, mainly from Israel and the U.S.A., who took part in a symposium held in December 1975 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Jerusalem Mental Health Centre, Ezrath Nashim. The subject matter of the book is presented in three main sections, the first of which, entitled ‘Neurochemical Studies in Human Psychopathology’, deals especially with the mechanism of action of antipsychotic drugs and other psychopharmacological agents in influencing the symptoms of schizophrenic and manic-depressive psychoses. A chapter by H. M. van Praag discusses various aspects of the dopamine hypothesis: others deal with adenylate cyclase activity, prolactin levels and electrolyte distribution
in human subjects during treatment with drugs. Data are reported on amine turnover and on antibody levels to viruses in psychiatric illness. In the second section of the book the main theme is the way in which learning, and various forms of behavioural activity, are influenced by the catecholamines. The third section, dealing with genetic studies, includes a chapter in which observations on the biological and adoptive relatives of adoptees who became schizophrenic are summarized by S. S. Kety. Genetic and biological studies of affective and schizoaffective illness are described by E. S. Gershon and by J. Mendlewicz. One feature of this book which is of special value is the application to clinical problems of methods developed in research in the basic sciences. The cost is a reminder that books of this kind are becoming increasingly expensive, but this is a book that could be of value to anyone interested in psychiatric research. D.
RICHTER