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Not really essential reading
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TRENDS in Immunology Vol.22 No.5 May 2001
Book Review
Not really essential reading Really Essential Medical Immunology by I. Roitt and A. Rabson Blackwell Science, 2000. £14.95 pbk (186 pages) ISBN 0 632 05506 5
I teach medical and science students and they find understanding immunology a problem. It is to them that this concise version of Roitt’s Essential Immunology1 is addressed. Revision and further reading are provided at the end of each chapter and the reader also directed to the website for multiple-choice selfassessment, updates and an image archive. Although a slim volume, Really Essential Medical Immunology is absolutely packed with facts and ideas. Perhaps inevitably, readability has thereby been somewhat compromised. However, the illustrations in the book are clear and I was happy to see plenty of photomicrographs as well as colourful diagrams. A visit to the website (http://www.roitt.com/) confirmed that the diagrams are easily downloaded and I was impressed with the updates that I accessed. In recommending a text for medical students or for biological science students not pursuing an immunology degree, one wants to present a coherent story that is readily understandable. The student, however, will tend to believe as fact everything in a textbook unless it is indicated that some bits of the ‘story’ are speculative or have been extrapolated from findings in other species. I was therefore pleased to see the experimental basis for some of the ‘facts’ reviewed, for example, ‘The discovery of thyroid autoimmunity’, pp. 161–162. I was interested to read on page 101 that ‘Downregulation of MHC class I poses no problems for γδ T-cells, which recognise native viral coat protein (e.g. herpes
simplex virus glycoprotein) on the cell surface.…’As a virologist, I was not aware of this and following the ‘Further reading’ suggestions did not provide any additional information. A Medline search on ‘γδ T-cells’ and ‘herpes simplex’ was unsuccessful but ‘viral surface glycoproteins’ produced references to bovine herpes virus 1, rotavirus infection in immunodeficient mice and the porcine immune response to virus infection. I therefore concluded, that either the recognition of herpes simplex virus (HSV) glycoproteins on the surface of the infected cell has been demonstrated but not published, or that the authors have extrapolated from the bovine system. In either case, I question whether it is appropriate to include it in a textbook of this level. Medical students at my university are recommended Medical Microbiology2, of which Roitt is a co-author. In this book, immunology is integrated with microbiology in an imaginative way, with many similar diagrams to Really Essential Medical Immunology, but redrawn for the different publisher. The scope of the books differs slightly; for instance, Medical Microbiology has no chapter on transplantation. Though impressed with Really Essential Medical Immunology, I shall not be recommending a change for our students. I think the content is too detailed for it to be anything other than a reference book for the medical curriculum (in which the burden of factual knowledge has been reduced on the insistence of the General Medical Council in the UK). The science students I teach are learning virology and Medical Microbiology covers the ploys and counter ploys of infecting agents and their hosts in a more entertaining way. Liz McCruden Dept of Virology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Church Street, Glasgow, UK G11 5JR. e-mail: [email protected] References 1 Roitt, I. and Delves, P.J. (1997) Roitt’s Essential Immunology (9th edn), Blackwell Science 2 Mims, C. et al. (1998) Medical Microbiology (2nd edn), Mosby International
Crosstalk between the brain and immune system Psychoneuroimmunology (Vols 1 and 2) (3rd edn) edited by R. Ader et al. Harcourt, 2001. $299.95 hdbk (xxvi + 726 pages and xiii + 856 pages) ISBN 0 12 044314 7
This edition of Psychoneuroimmunology is the third generation of a collection of scientific knowledge regarding the bi-directional communication among the immune, endocrine, and central nervous systems (CNS). Given the period of time between the publication of the three editions (in 1981, 1991 and 2001), the scope and significance of the field of psychoneuroimmunology has extended greatly between texts. Accordingly, Psychoneuroimmunology represents a timely and important reference to the status of this interdisciplinary field. The third edition provides a true update of the information presented in its predecessor. In accordance with the significant expansion of this field over the past decade, the third edition has increased in content by ≈50%. The updated edition retains the evenly balanced thematic divisions of the second edition. Chapters are categorized into those concerned with neural influences on immunity (e.g. neural innervation of lymphoid organs and neurotransmitter–neuropeptide interaction with immune cell receptors); neuroendocrine influences on immunity (e.g. effects of sympathetic, steroid and pituitary hormones on immune function); immune system modulation of CNS processes (e.g. neural and endocrine responses to immune signals and cytokine effects on neural communication and behavioural states); behavioural effects on immunity (e.g. behavioural conditioning of immunity and the effects of exercise and early events in life on immune function); and stress effects on immunity (e.g. effects of both acute and
http://immunology.trends.com 1471–4906/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Forum
TRENDS in Immunology Vol.22 No.5 May 2001
Book Review
Not really essential reading Really Essential Medical Immunology by I. Roitt and A. Rabson Blackwell Science, 2000. £14.95 pbk (186 pages) ISBN 0 632 05506 5
I teach medical and science students and they find understanding immunology a problem. It is to them that this concise version of Roitt’s Essential Immunology1 is addressed. Revision and further reading are provided at the end of each chapter and the reader also directed to the website for multiple-choice selfassessment, updates and an image archive. Although a slim volume, Really Essential Medical Immunology is absolutely packed with facts and ideas. Perhaps inevitably, readability has thereby been somewhat compromised. However, the illustrations in the book are clear and I was happy to see plenty of photomicrographs as well as colourful diagrams. A visit to the website (http://www.roitt.com/) confirmed that the diagrams are easily downloaded and I was impressed with the updates that I accessed. In recommending a text for medical students or for biological science students not pursuing an immunology degree, one wants to present a coherent story that is readily understandable. The student, however, will tend to believe as fact everything in a textbook unless it is indicated that some bits of the ‘story’ are speculative or have been extrapolated from findings in other species. I was therefore pleased to see the experimental basis for some of the ‘facts’ reviewed, for example, ‘The discovery of thyroid autoimmunity’, pp. 161–162. I was interested to read on page 101 that ‘Downregulation of MHC class I poses no problems for γδ T-cells, which recognise native viral coat protein (e.g. herpes
simplex virus glycoprotein) on the cell surface.…’As a virologist, I was not aware of this and following the ‘Further reading’ suggestions did not provide any additional information. A Medline search on ‘γδ T-cells’ and ‘herpes simplex’ was unsuccessful but ‘viral surface glycoproteins’ produced references to bovine herpes virus 1, rotavirus infection in immunodeficient mice and the porcine immune response to virus infection. I therefore concluded, that either the recognition of herpes simplex virus (HSV) glycoproteins on the surface of the infected cell has been demonstrated but not published, or that the authors have extrapolated from the bovine system. In either case, I question whether it is appropriate to include it in a textbook of this level. Medical students at my university are recommended Medical Microbiology2, of which Roitt is a co-author. In this book, immunology is integrated with microbiology in an imaginative way, with many similar diagrams to Really Essential Medical Immunology, but redrawn for the different publisher. The scope of the books differs slightly; for instance, Medical Microbiology has no chapter on transplantation. Though impressed with Really Essential Medical Immunology, I shall not be recommending a change for our students. I think the content is too detailed for it to be anything other than a reference book for the medical curriculum (in which the burden of factual knowledge has been reduced on the insistence of the General Medical Council in the UK). The science students I teach are learning virology and Medical Microbiology covers the ploys and counter ploys of infecting agents and their hosts in a more entertaining way. Liz McCruden Dept of Virology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Church Street, Glasgow, UK G11 5JR. e-mail: [email protected] References 1 Roitt, I. and Delves, P.J. (1997) Roitt’s Essential Immunology (9th edn), Blackwell Science 2 Mims, C. et al. (1998) Medical Microbiology (2nd edn), Mosby International
Crosstalk between the brain and immune system Psychoneuroimmunology (Vols 1 and 2) (3rd edn) edited by R. Ader et al. Harcourt, 2001. $299.95 hdbk (xxvi + 726 pages and xiii + 856 pages) ISBN 0 12 044314 7
This edition of Psychoneuroimmunology is the third generation of a collection of scientific knowledge regarding the bi-directional communication among the immune, endocrine, and central nervous systems (CNS). Given the period of time between the publication of the three editions (in 1981, 1991 and 2001), the scope and significance of the field of psychoneuroimmunology has extended greatly between texts. Accordingly, Psychoneuroimmunology represents a timely and important reference to the status of this interdisciplinary field. The third edition provides a true update of the information presented in its predecessor. In accordance with the significant expansion of this field over the past decade, the third edition has increased in content by ≈50%. The updated edition retains the evenly balanced thematic divisions of the second edition. Chapters are categorized into those concerned with neural influences on immunity (e.g. neural innervation of lymphoid organs and neurotransmitter–neuropeptide interaction with immune cell receptors); neuroendocrine influences on immunity (e.g. effects of sympathetic, steroid and pituitary hormones on immune function); immune system modulation of CNS processes (e.g. neural and endocrine responses to immune signals and cytokine effects on neural communication and behavioural states); behavioural effects on immunity (e.g. behavioural conditioning of immunity and the effects of exercise and early events in life on immune function); and stress effects on immunity (e.g. effects of both acute and
http://immunology.trends.com 1471–4906/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.