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Review of drugs affecting lipid metabolism
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Review of Drugs Affecting Lipid Metabolism Edited by R. Paoletti, D. Kritchevsky and W.L. Holmes Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1987, 451 pp., DM 134,99 This book is the report of a symposium on drugs affecting lipid metabolism held in Florence in 1986. It includes chapters which re-evaluate the role of HDL as a negative risk factor for IHD; current animal models are reviewed and areas for future progress discussed; metabolism and drug induced changes in HDL are considered and the possible role of increasing HDL to retard atherogenesis considered. The epidemiological evidence of HDL cholesterol level as a negative risk factor is now almost incontrovertable. However, the mechanism by which a high level of HDL is protective from atherosclerosis remains to be established. The lucid chapter by Steinberg draws on evidence concerning the frequency of coronary disease in the rare HDL deficiency states to evaluate a protective role of HDL and the possible importance of the turnover of HDL as opposed to the steady state level. Possible pathways of reverse cholesterol transport are considered and areas for further research discussed. The chapter on the structure of Apo B-100 by Gotto et al. is particularly clear and concise. The pharmacology both in animals and man of one of the new hydroxymethylgultaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors is presented. Long-term effects of the use of the drug in patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia, as well as its combined use with other hyperlipidaemic agents in man are reviewed. There are several chapters on mechanisms of action, efficacy and tolerance of various fibrate drugs used in the treatment of hyperlipidaemia. This book should be of interest to all in the field of lipids and contains enough of interest for the non-specialist to sample. Jeremy Quiney Lecturer in Chemical Pathology and Metabolic Disorders, St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, UK
Review of Drugs Affecting Lipid Metabolism Edited by R. Paoletti, D. Kritchevsky and W.L. Holmes Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1987, 451 pp., DM 134,99 This book is the report of a symposium on drugs affecting lipid metabolism held in Florence in 1986. It includes chapters which re-evaluate the role of HDL as a negative risk factor for IHD; current animal models are reviewed and areas for future progress discussed; metabolism and drug induced changes in HDL are considered and the possible role of increasing HDL to retard atherogenesis considered. The epidemiological evidence of HDL cholesterol level as a negative risk factor is now almost incontrovertable. However, the mechanism by which a high level of HDL is protective from atherosclerosis remains to be established. The lucid chapter by Steinberg draws on evidence concerning the frequency of coronary disease in the rare HDL deficiency states to evaluate a protective role of HDL and the possible importance of the turnover of HDL as opposed to the steady state level. Possible pathways of reverse cholesterol transport are considered and areas for further research discussed. The chapter on the structure of Apo B-100 by Gotto et al. is particularly clear and concise. The pharmacology both in animals and man of one of the new hydroxymethylgultaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors is presented. Long-term effects of the use of the drug in patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia, as well as its combined use with other hyperlipidaemic agents in man are reviewed. There are several chapters on mechanisms of action, efficacy and tolerance of various fibrate drugs used in the treatment of hyperlipidaemia. This book should be of interest to all in the field of lipids and contains enough of interest for the non-specialist to sample. Jeremy Quiney Lecturer in Chemical Pathology and Metabolic Disorders, St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, UK