JOURNAL OF APPLIED TOXICOLOGY. VOL. 9(1), 69-71 (1989)

Book Reviews

H. PIRKLE and F. S. M A R K L A N D . Jr . (cds) Hemostasis and Animal Venoms Marcel Dchher. Ncw York. 1988: 655 pp.. LJS $IXO.OO

Thc purpose of this volume is to bring togcthcr ii subbtantial body of knowledge ahout the divcrsc components in animal vcnoms and their effects on the haeniostatic mechanisms in man.

The nuclcu\ of ihc contents arow from a symposium on Animal Venoms and Hacnio- star is held in conjunction with the Xth Congress o f the International Society of Thrombosis and Hacniostasi\. at San Dicgo in July 19x5. Thc growing au~iircness of the medical application\ of venom components in ;inticoagulant therapy and in clinicel lab- oratory testing h:ls hightened the importance of venom factors as probes. tools and models.

Thc hook. consisting of 11 contributions from ii lormidable array of I08 authors. is divided into seven mt ions . These sections rsngc iicro\s thc goniut of topics relevtint to haemntology and venoms. from such aspects as coagulant factors in venoms o f a variety of snakes and the Mexican beaded lizards. and the fibrinolytic cnzymeh and anticoagu- lant lactor\ in w;rkc vcnorns ;mi in the hair of ccrtain spccics of moth caterpillars and in leeches. to platelet activation and aggre- gation Iractiom and haeniorrhagic factors in snake venoms. The final chapter deal5 with the clinical applications of snake venom factors in thc trcatnient of conditions such iis deep venous. central rctinul vein and ccrchral thromhohis to systemic lupus erythematosus iind other coagulant dis- orders.

This i\ an xuthorit;itive and well-written hook. HwveLcr. i t must be emphasized that the honk cater\ for H readership fmniliar with the principles. including the biochemistry. of hnematological processes.

S. D. G A N G O L L I Deputy Director

B IBRA - The British Industrial Biological Research Association

Woodmansterne R o d Carshalton

Surrey SMS lDS

J . 1’. GRIFFIN. r’. F. D‘ARCY 311d c. J . SPIERS A Manual of Adverse Drug Interactions Wright. IYSX: 521 pp. i S ( l . 0 0

Four cditions in 13 years reflect. perhaps. thc importancc of jrdvcrse drug reactions in clinical practice. the ‘growth of knowledge ,ibout thcin and their undcrlying mechan-

isms. ;ind the interest takcn in them by the health care profesional readership. I n their Preface to the first edition in 1975. the authors quoted from ;I Lancet Editorial which suggested that the publication of long l i s t s of potential drug interactions would ‘induce in doctors a drug-interaction-anxiety syndii)mc and lead to therapeutic paralysis’. History has diown that thcse fears havc not bcen renlised: prescription numbers continue to increase annually and prescribing doctors do not appear, at least to me. to bc burdened with an intense anxiety about the risks of intcr.ction of the drugs they prcscribc. We certainly went through a period. a decade ago. when i t was ii popular rescarch activity to dt,monstrate intcractions of various types hetqccn pi i rs of drugs. but this now scems to h:ive bcen brought into wme sort of persliective. mostly because of the success of authoritative volunies such as this which not only provide information on the mechan- isms underlying drug interaction, but also indicate their likely clinical relevance. The first section o f this new edition. like i t s pretlecessors. discusses the basic mechanisms of drug interactions. and the second much longcr section comprises lists of potential interactions. their probably relative import- ance being indicated bv the size of type used Not all interactions are potentially dangerous. of course. and the possibility of enhmced therapeutic outcome should always he considered.

Keeping these lists up-to-date i s a mam- moth task. and D r C. J. Spiers has. therefore. hecome a co-author with D r Griffin and Professor D‘Arcy in this edition. A l l are prc-eminent in thc field, and the continued siicL‘ess of this authoritative source of infor- macion i s assured.

P A U L TURNER Department of Clinical Pharmxology

St Bartholonicw‘\ H o q t a l London EClA 7BE

S. C. G A D (Ed. ) Product Safety Evaluation Handbook (Drug and Chemical Toxicology Seriesih) Marcel Dekker. New York and Basel, 1088; 661 pp.. $I4S.00 in thc USA and Canada. $17d.00 elsewhere

M V. ROLOFF (Ed . ) Human Risk Assessment-The Role of Ani- mal Selection and Extrapolation Taylor B Francis. London. Philadelphia and Ncw York. 1987; 3S1 pp.. f30.00

The Product and Safety Evaluation Hand- book acts as a guide thi-ough the different stdgcs of the rick :isscssment process. I t is

a practical guidebook and niost prohably reflects the industrial experience of the 13 contributors. Though the hulk of the volume deals with the design. praxis and evaluation of toxicity tests, space i s given to regulations. the use of availiiblc toxicological infor- mation. contrxtual arrangements with out- side laboratories. the assessnient of possible and existing exposure. and statistics. The ten chapters on testing methods cover the whole field. including combustion products. inha- lation toxicology and hyperscnsitivity. Every chapter is well-referenced. However. it is surprising that though references occupy niore than lOY0 of the total space. authors and editor iynored rclevant WHO publi- cations. They could. and should, have rele- nted their chapters with ease and to the advantage o f the readers to the following Environmental Health Criteria Documents: Pririciples titid Metlrods for E~~di ic i t i r ig h e To.~ici:y of Cheriiiccil~ (No. 6 ) . Priricip(rs f o r Edii(lrilig Htwlrli Rish io Progeny Assuci- ured wirh Exposirre lo C’lirwiirub rlirririg Pregr ic i iq ( N o . 30). Si tn i i~ i f i r y Rrporf on rhe E~~ili iuriorr of Slrort-rerm Tesis for Curcirio- gerir (No. 37) . Sliorf-ferm Tesrr fvr Derccririg Mirragc~riic (itid Curciriogcwic Clierrricals (No. 5 1). and Primiples urid Mrtliodr f o r die Assetsrrierrr of Nmr.oro.xicirv Associctrrrl with Exposirre r o C/retnic~r~s (No. 60).

Human Risk Assessment represents a school of thought which is emphatically different from the ‘generic. empirical and cookbook-like approach’ of the Handbook. While the latter gives a positive image to the required routine of toxicological testing, the former disdains and even ridicules i t . The basic message is that the response to chemicals. and therefore biotransformation must be studied increasingly for a hetter understanding of species differences and individual variations. Only a better under- standing ol these mechanisms will allow the rational selection of ‘useful animal models of the human pharniacogenetic conditions‘. Moreovcr. ‘toxicological risk should he evaluated. not in populations or groups as a whole. but rather for each person. hnscd on the knowledge o f . . . individual host factors that affect rcsponsivene\s in that p;irticul;ir subject’. Unfortunately. thc current risk assessment practice is very far from the ideal world advocated by most of the contributors. The summary chapter actually rehabilitates the cookbook approach. as no matter a.hat animal is considered to bc the hes t sentinel for a particular human hcnlth effect. only the three rodents (the rat. mouse and hamster) appear io meet the practical requirements of ready availability. lifespan, easy handling in the laboratory. etc. Nevertheless. this volume will help the reader to see the results of testing methods in pcr5pectivc and to

02hO-d37X:XY/0 11)069-03$I~S .oo 0 IYSY hy John Wilcy B Sons, L td