Nitroglycerin and other organic nitrates have been used for over a century in the treatment of angina pectoris. Millions of patients, throughout the world, have placed nitroglycerin tablets under the tongue and have experienced rapid and dramatic relief from the chest pain that frequently occurs as a manifestation of disease of the coronary arteries. The empirical observation of the safe use of nitrates for tile alleviation of the symptoms of angina have led to their widespread medical acceptance. The use of organic nitrates preceded any knowledge of their mechanism of action or their...

The major cause of death in the Western world is some form of vascular disease; and principal among these forms is atherosclerotic heart disease (ASHD). Although much is known about the etiology and treatment of ASHD, there is, as yet, no specific means of prognosis of an impending coronary episode. There are, however, several indications of susceptibility to coronary disease, generally known as risk factors, the foremost of which is hyperlipidemia. Hyperlipidemia is more commonly designated as hypercholesteremia or triglyceridemia, depending upon which moiety is elevated, but since lipids...

Between 1950 and 1960, remarkable advances were made in the develQpment Qf antihypertensive drugs, but since then, prQgress has been less rapid. This dQes nQt mean that no. new drugs have been intrQduced: Qn the cQntrary, their number has increased sharply; but since the advent Qf the beta-adrenergic blQckers no. new pharmacQdynamic principle has been discQvered that CQuid be applied widely as an antihypertensive. This has nQt been fQr want Qf effQrts, because many attempts have been made to. find new ways and means Qf influencing blQQd- pressure regulatiQn Qr the mechanisms invQlved in the...

This volume was planned to provide a comprehensive survey of the role of the anabolic-androgenic steroids in the vital economy exclusive of the androgenic (sexual) functions. It seemed appropriate to bring together all of this information in an organized fashion in one volume at this time not only to serve as a source of information but also to indicate and suggest areas that need further exploration. The anabolic action of the steroid hormones has gone through a period of great activity in both basic and clinical research. A complete understanding of the manifold anabolic effects still...

In the preface to Part I of this volume, which appeared in 1966, we stated: " ... we had to leave the Antihistaminics for another volume of unpredictable dimensions. In 1924, eight pages inserted in a Chapter on Mutterkorn by Arthur R.Cushing were considered enough, in Vol. II, Part II, pp. 1319-1326 of the Hand- buch. Now 922 pages did not suffice to cover all aspects of the subject ... the subject has been expanded in so many directions, that the anti histaminic part had to be excluded from the present volume. Possibly, another thousand pages will be necessary to cover what remains of the...

Most drugs, toxins, hormones, and the like bring about their biologic actions by reacting with specific receptors somewhere in the body. Scientists working in all areas of biologic science have shown increasing interest in the analysis of drug-receptor interactions in the broadest sense. Studies of drugs (binding) to receptors in situ and to isolated and partly purified receptors are becoming common practice. The action of a drug in the body is, however, a kinetic event not only with respect to transport of drug molecules to the environment of the receptors, but also with respect to the...

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The study of the biological effects of foreign chemicals (whether therapeutic drugs or chemicals present at work or in the environment) interests the biologist from a number of different and complementary viewpoints. Apart from the more obvious pharmacological and toxicological interest, the experimentalist often uses foreign chemicals to produce in experimental animals disease states similar to naturally occurring diseases, so that their pathogenetic mechanisms and therapy can be studied under controlled conditions. In addition - as Claude Bernard pointed out over a century ago - foreign...

Disturbances of haemostasis and thromboembolic disorders still constitute a great problem in clinical practice. Increasing insight into the mechanism of blood coagula- tion has led to more effective therapy and prophylaxis. Particularly, the understand- ing of the biochemistry of fibrinolysis has provided possibilities for the pharma- cological interference of these processes, which has resulted in effective haemostatic agents and useful antithrombotic ones. The development of antifibrinolytics for interfering with pathological fibrinolytic processes is nearly complete and has led to the...

Uric acid has attracted the attention of scientists from a broad spectrum of disciplines, and in recent years dramatic progress has occurred within many of these disciplines. This volume is designed to fill void in the field. Major works in the past five years have provided comprehensive reviews of disorders of uric acid metabolism for the clinical (1-3) as well as short reports of recent progress for the interested scholar (4, 5). In Uric Acid the reader will find extensive reviews of relevant topics selected largely by virtue of recent progress in the field and written by those who, to a...