Clinical pharmacokinetics of sulfonamides and their metabolites. An Encyclopedia. Volume 37. Antibiotics and Chemotherapy

importance of having a small and a powerful magnet to achieve improved and better targeting of drug delivery. They have pointed out the extreme difficulty associated with targeting of drug carriers on a predetermined site. They suggest that superselective catheterization and magnetimagnetic drug carriers may help an attempt for enhancement of localization of carriers and entrapped agents. A brief but original application of nanoparticles is given in the fourth chapter by reviewing their use in ocular therapy. The author has been able to categorize the different types of ocular therapeutic systems and further classify the latextype ocular systems in particular. This chapter lacks the incorporation of elaborate discussion of various phenomenology associated with the use of nanoparticular systems in ocular therapy. The reader is left with a feeling that this chapter was put together as a last-minute job. Most of the chapter comprises of figures and very limited text information. This chapter lacks a closing statement, again indicative of subordinate treatment of the topic. Chapter 5 examines microcapsules and microspheres for embolization and chemoembolization from a medical standpoint. Additionally, technological aspects pertaining to microcapsules and microspheres for chemoembolization and investigations into the pharmaceutical form in the animal and human model are discussed. The authors have done a commendablejob in presenting information which not only is simple to follow, but relatively easy to understand. This is the second chapter that is not only well-written but also presents an almost complete picture of the topic. The authors have been successful in pointing out the major problem of rapid clearance of anticancer drugs from tumor tissues, associated with anticancer chemotherapy. A possible approach designed to overcome this problem is the selective administration of a pharmaceutical form that is inherently active or that allows controlled release of drug directly in the target pathological tissues. Chapter 6 discusses colloidal particles as diagnostic agents. The authors describe the applications of such systems in nuclear medicine involving imaging of various organs. Additionally, certain colloidal systems have proved more successful than others for particular applications for reasons which include ease of preparation, stability, and biological fate. This is the only chapter that is thoroughly referenced and which presents a rigorous review of the use of “colloidal” systems in diagnostics. Certainly the text can act as a stimulus for developing new polymeric drug delivery systems! But not for the right reasons. Overall, the text is pleasant to handle but it is definitely an introductory pharmaceutical technology textbook in the area of drug delivery systems involving nanopartides and microspheres. It can be recommended for senior

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pharmacy students who wish to pursue graduate education in pharmaceutics. Umesh V. Banakar School of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions Creighton University Omaha, NE 68178

Clinical Pharmacokinetics of Sulfonamides and Their Metabolites. An Encyclopedia. Volume 37. Antibiotics and Chemotherapy. By T. V. Vree and Y. A. Hekster. S. Karger: Basel. 1987. viii + 216 pp. ISBN 3-8955-4511-8. $1 17.50. This textbook is an encyclopedia of the kinetic parameters of 38 different sulfonamides. This encyclopedia is a compilation of published literature on the solubility, absorption, metabolism, excretion, clearance, metabolites, protein binding, and other pharmacokinetic parameters such as half-life and volume of distribution. These parameters are noted for each individual sulfonamide. The style of the book is best suited to those health scientists in clinical medicine o r those research scientists who wish to change pharmacokinetic parameters by substituting various structures onto the present chemical. The discussion of the pharmacokinetic parameters for each sulfonamide is con-ise. The data are readily available via sulfonamide; however, this limits the reader’s ability to assimilate the data into other useful forms such as toxicological implications, structure-activity relationships, urinary excretion, and protein binding. It would have been helpful if the authors had discussed certain contraindications of various sulfonamides due to selected diseases and conditions, for example, anemia or dialysis. The only major disease state mentioned in the text is a summary of previously published literature on the renal impairment of excretion. This book will serve as an excellent clinical reference book for physicians and pharmacists on the pharmacokinetic parameters of the selected 38 sulfonamides. It is also complementary to Volume 34, Pharmacokinetics of Sulfonamides Revisited, which dealt with the metabolism of sulfonamides as a chemical class and the pharmacokinetics of various sulfonamides in man and animal models. As a scientific text, Volume 34 is better for evaluating structure-activity relationships. Robert L. Suber Corporate Center of Toxicology RJR Nabisco, Inc. Winston-Salem, NC 27102