FreeRadicalBiology& Medicine,Vol.3, pp. 423-425, 1987 Printedin the USA.Allrightsreserved.
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0891-5849/87 $3.00+.00 © 1987PergamonJournalsLtd.
Book Reviews I
BOOKS RECEIVED Reviewed by KelvinJ. A. Davies, Ph.D. Institute for Toxicology& Departmentof Biochemistry,The Universityof SouthernCalifornia, 1985 Zonal Avenue, HSC-PSC 614-616, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA Superoxide and Superoxide Dismutase in Chemistry, Biology, and Medicine. Edited by Giuseppe Rotilio. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam/New York/Oxford, 1986. Price: $129.75 (US).
This authoritative 2 volume review contains a total of 1,694 pages of text, tables, charts, and references, and a 45 page subject index. Despite current interest in the possible role(s) of free radicals in ischemia-reperfusion injury, this subject is only addressed on pages 1152, 1164, and 1178-1183 (all in Volume 2). Free radical researchers in the cardiovascular field may, however, want to consult these volumes as an excellent source of general cardiovascular information.
This volume contains the proceedings of the "4th International Conference on Superoxide and Superoxide Dismutase," which was held in Rome, Italy, 1-6 September 1985. The organization of the book approximates that of the conference, by use of the following subdivisions: Mechanisms of Oxy-radical Reactions, Enzyme Structure and Mechanisms, Evolution and Biosynthesis of Superoxide Dismutases, Cellular and Physiological Aspects of Oxy-radicals and their Related Enzymes, and Pharmacological and Clinical Aspects of Superoxide and Superoxide Dismutase. Some 173 articles (by over 550 authors) are presented in a total of 688 (mostly photo-offset) pages. The book is dedicated to Professor Alessandro Rossi-Fanelli.
Articular Cartilage Biochemistry. Edited by Klaus E. Kuettner, Rudolf Schleyerbach, and Vincent C. Hascall. Raven Press, New York, 1986. Price: $51.00.
This volume contains the proceedings of the "International Workshop on Oxygen Radicals in Shock," which was held in Florence, Italy, 31 May to 1 June 1985. The book contains some 37 articles, including 63 figures and 48 tables, in a total of 248 pages. In addition to the table of contents, there is also a useful subject index. All of the articles in this volume are entirely typeset, and are printed on good quality glossy paper. Many will find this to be a helpful update of an important, and rapidly evolving area.
This book contains the proceedings of "The (4th) International Workshop on Articular Cartilage Biochemistry," held in Wiesbaden, Germany, 30 September to 3 October 1985. The volume is conveniently divided into the following six parts: Cartilage Matrix Components; Biosynthesis and Characterization of CartilageuSpecific Matrix Components and Events; Cartilage Metabolism; In Vitro Studies of Articular Cartilage Metabolism; Normal and Pathologic Metabolism of Cartilage; and Destruction of the Articular Cartilage in Rheumatoid Diseases. The book contains some 34 articles in a total of 475 pages. In addition to the table of contents, there is also a useful subject index. All of the articles in this volume are entirely typeset, and are printed on good quality glossy paper. Although this volume does not really deal with free radical issues, researchers working with cartilage (particularly those interested in rheumatoid diseases) may find it to be a useful review.
The Heart and Circulatory System: Scientific Founelations, Vol. 1 and 2. Edited by Harry A. Fozzard, Edgar Haber, Robert B. Jennings, Arnold M. Katz, and Howard E. Morgan. Raven Press, New York, 1986. Price: $245.00 (US), for the 2 volume set.
Free Radicals in Liver Injury. Edited by Giuseppe Poll, K. H. Cheeseman, M. U. Dianzani, and Trevor E Slater. IRL Press, Oxford/Washington, 1985. Price: $50.00 (US).
Oxygen Free Radicals in Shock. Edited by Gian Paolo Novelli and Fulvio Ursini. Karger, Basel/New York, 1986. Price: $106.75 (US).
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Book Reviews
This volume contains the proceedings of "The First International Meeting on Free Radicals in Liver Injury," held in Turin, Italy, on 27-29 June 1985. The book is published in paperback form, and all articles have been reproduced by a photo-offset procedure. Some 94 authors contributed to the 31 articles, which are
presented in a total of 230 pages. The book has a short keyword (subject) index, and most of the papers contain both review information and some new data. Many in the free radical field will want to have a copy of this informative, yet unpretentious book.
ANNUAL R E V I E W OF P H Y S I O L O G Y Volume 48, 1986, pp. 655-732 ROBERT M. BERNE AND JOSEPH F. H O F F M A N Annual Reviews Inc, Palo Alto, California. Price: $32.00 Reviewed by Dr. PeterA. Ward, Ph.D. Departmentof Pathology,MedicalSchool, The Universityof Michigan, 1500 E. MedicalCenter Dr. Ann Arbor, Michigan,49109-0602, USA
This section contains an introduction and is followed by six sections dealing with the chemistry of radicals (Pryor), oxidant production by phagocytic cells and the oxygen dependent microbicidal events of phagocytes (Forman and Thomas), chemically induced radical production in the lung (Smith), antioxidant defenses in lung (Fridovich and Forman), oxygen radicals and hyperoxia (Jamieson, Chance, Cadenas and Boveris), and the morphology of oxygen toxicity (Crapo). In general, the sections are concise statements of currently understood facts, with an attempt to provide a perspective for what is a confusing, complicated and confounding situation with regard to oxygen radicals and their biological roles, The basic chemistry set forward by Pryor is extended in each of the succeeding sections where, when extrapolations are attempted in biological systems, the conclusions become less clear. Forman and Thomas provide a useful, albeit limited, view of current information on phagocytic cell activation steps, and they refer to some of the currently highly controversial interpretations about the cellular requirements for NADPH oxidase. The reference to findings in CGD cells in which the oxidase is defective provides hints of what has now become accepted fact: the defects take many different forms and vary from defective cytosolic factors that become translocated during cell activation to defective membrane constituents. It is also made clear that what oxygen product is responsible for microbicidal activity is not clearly established. It could well be that the killing involves
a combination of oxidant species, rather than a single product, and that Synergy would come from the presence of several oxygen products. Obtaining proof is formidable in light of variable instability of oxygen products. The section by Smith emphasizes the crucial questions of compartmentalization within the lung of toxic chemicals as an explanation for the preferential ability, for example, of agents such as bleomycin and ANTU to cause relative injury of alveolar epithelial cells and endothelial cells, respectively. Some understanding of the issue is beginning to emerge on the basis of this information, but data are still very incomplete. For instance, why do 03 and NO2 tend to cause selective inflammation in the distal conducting airway, with little reaction in the more proximal airways? The section by Fridovich and Freeman emphasize the ways in which 02-" is generated intracellularly and regulated by SOD's and how these patterns can be altered by environmental factors. This topic is of great contemporary importance as it becomes increasingly likely that the ability of a cell or tissue to generate 02"-- provides a critical contribution to either oxidant or chemically initiated cellular injury. The section by Jamieson et al. reviews the evidence that hyperoxia is associated with increased levels 0fO2-", H202, 102 and other oxygen products. While many of the conclusions are circumstantial, and the induction of antioxidant enzymes in tissues exposed to hyperoxia becomes a confounding factor, it is nevertheless reassuring that