Medicinal Chemistry: The Role of Organic Chemistry in Drug Research

for the study of glutamate decarboxylase. Techniques are shown to be general with application to other enzyme systems for light and electron microscopic study. A chapter on in vitro approaches to study of receptor and high affinity uptake site localization is focused on GABA and glutamate and is limited to neurotransmitter amino acids. The study of turnover of amino acids (mostly GABA) and how this is atfected by compartmentalization and metabolic dependence on other neurotransmitters (glutamate) is presented in another chapter, which focuses on the pitfalls of turnover measurement with multiple compartments and interactions. Data from other studies are discussed in this context. The final chapter focuses on uptake and release of amino acids (GABA mostly). A great deal of emphasis is placed on release from terminals versus glia which remains unresolved for calcium-dependent release. In vivo and in vitro methods for study of uptake and release, perfusion, superfusion and cortical cups, are reviewed. In summary, this is a good compilation of analytical methods used for study of amino acids in neural tissues and body fluids. These chapters focus on GABA with much less attention paid to glutamate, aspartate, glycine, and taurine (in decreasing order). Several chapters reinforce the difficulty in studying GABA as a result of multiple pools and cellular localization and metabolic relationship to glutamate. More emphasis could be placed on taurine, glycine, and aspartate although GABA has proven the most interesting of these (and the most researched). Tryptophan and tyrosine, and perhaps phenylalanine, could have received more attention in this volume although these and their metabolites are covered in Volume 2 with the amines. As with Volume 2, the editors failed to adequately index this volume, so chat many interesting tables are difficult to access. Sanford P. Markey Ivan N. Mefford Laboratory of Clinical Science National Institute of Mental Health Bethesda, MD 20892

antischistosomal oxamniquine. These chapters are similar but not identical in length (16-24 pages) and format (each is prefaced by a short table of contents which is also included in the main Contents). The number of references accompanying each chapter is relatively small (9-38)with -15% representing work published after 1981.However, it should be noted that the book is primarily historical in nature and does not profess to contain up-to-the-minute reviews. The book provides interesting reading on drug development, describing its arduous, lengthy, and uncertain nature. The successful discoveries reported were achieved outside of the US.and the status of some of the drugs in this country is not readily determined. The volume succeeds in its expressed purpose “. . . to help chemists with little or no knowledge of the drug industry to begin to understand how some of the currently important and widely used drug substances were discovered.” Its primary audience will be young chemists, perhaps, also, biological scientists embarking on careers in pharmaceutical research. The volume is well-produced and virtually error-free. The chemical structures and synthetic schemes, biological cartoons, data tables, and figures have been carefully done. An adequate subject index is included and a list of contributors replaces an author index. Although the therapeutic agents described were chosen with a certain bias, the volume amply demonstrates the critical role medicinal chemistry has traditionally played in the drug discovery process. The latter 11 chapters exemplify that process by which the pharmaceutical industry has been well served for the past 2 decades. Beverly A. Pawson 7 Belleclaire Place Verone, NJ 07042

Rectal Therapy. Edited by B. Glas and C. J. deBlasy. J. R. Prous, Barcelona, Spain, 1983. x + 146 pp. 24 x 18 cm. ISBN: 84-499-7188-8. Mediclnal Chemistry: The Role of Organlc Chemistry In Drug Research. Edited by S. M. Ftoberts and 8. J. Price. Academic Press Inc., London. 1985.xix + 296 pp. 16 x 23.5 cm. ISBN 0-12-589730-8. $65.00/f55.00, $29.95/f24.00(paperback).

Written by chemists, this book begins with three introductory chapters. A concise discussion of enzymes, receptors and drug action is presented in Chapter 1 with further attention given to receptors and enzymes in Chapters 2 and 3,respectively. References for additional reading follow all three chapters. Eleven chapters follow on an equal number of therapeutic agents. In these latter chapters, a perspective on the process of drug development from test tube to clinic is presented. Five of the chapters describe the discovery of drugs that are active in receptor-mediated processes: a &stimulant brochodilator (salbutamol), beta-blockers, an Hz receptor antagonist (cimetidine), a morphine antagonist with analgesic properties (buprenorphine), and an acetyl choline receptor blocking agent (atracurium). Two chapters deal with steroid analogues: topical anti-inflammatory agents and contraceptives. The remaining chapters describe chemotherapeutic agents: cephalosporin antibiotics, beta-lactamase inhibitors, the antifungal drug ketoconazole and the 828 /Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vol. 75, No. 8, August 7986

Research on the rectal site of drug administration is a fast growing area as evidenced by the papers presented in the above monograph. The monograph summarizes the proceedings of the Symposium on the Advantages and Problems Encountered in Rectal Therapy held in Saint-R6my de Provence, France, on October 7-8,1983.The papers cover many different aspects of rectal therapy ranging from the historical development of suppositories to the latest research on adjuvant enhanced absorption. Leading researchers in the field present succinct papers on the evolution and current state of their specific interests. I strongly recommend this publication to anyone interested in rectal therapy. Unfortunately, to derive the full benefit of this book, one must be able to read English, French, Italian, and Spanish. A uniformity of language, preferably English, would have undoubtedly increased the popularity of this monograph. Gary G. Liversidge Pharmaceutical Research and Technologies Smith Kline & French Laboratories Philadelphia, PA 19101