HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) are established drugs for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Furthermore, they induce regression of vascular atherosclerosis as well as reduction of cardiovascular-related morbidity and death in patients with and without coronary artery disease. This book deals with statins which have substantially altered the approach to therapy of atherosclerosis and its sequelae. Emphasis is placed on the scientific background to the discoveries and the development of the therapy, including an overview of the current state of knowledge of the drugs. Clinical data...

Following 50 years of glucocorticoid use in a clinical setting, an international body of expert scientists and physicians presents a survey of glucocorticoid pharmacology. This work traces the history of glucocorticoid biology from the seminal description of glucocorticoid insufficiency by Thomas Addison in the mid-19th century, up to advances in elucidating the molecular basis of glucocorticoid action. Important discoveries are presented, as well as milestones in drug development, a survey of current clinical practice, and prospects for novel glucocorticoid-based therapeutics. This work...

Expanding from the classic use of immunosuppressants in transplantation and rejection, this current overview highlights their new roles in clinical medicine. Immunosuppressants are at the forefront of new treatment modalities. Individual chapters focus on their use not only in prevention or treatment of transplant rejection, but also on their use in immune-complex and autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis; on combination therapies to achieve synergy in immunosuppression; on new drugs, low molecular weight chemicals, the use of antibodies and gene therapy; on immunological...

This book provides multidisciplinary reviews of the mechanism of actio n and uses of methotrexate in the treatment of cancer, psoriasis, gyne cologic and inflammatory diseases. The intended audience includes clin icians involved in the care of patients suffering from oncologic, gyne cologic, rheumatic diseases as well as scientists involved in research into the pathogenesis and treatment of these diseases. This book prov ides a single, state-of-the-art source for information regarding the m echanism and use of methotrexate in many different areas of medicine.

Important clinical issues as the outcome of long term treatment with antidepressants, the time of onset of the antidepressant response and the limitations of the antidepressants currently available are covered in this monograph. Leading researchers in the area of clinical and experimental psychopharmacology critically assess the progress in their specialist fields. The mechanisms of action of antidepressants are considered, followed by clinical research into the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the immune system in the biology of depression and in response to treatment. The...

In this book, emphasis is placed on the scientific background leading to the discovery of valproate, and its clinical development into one of the most widely used antiepileptic drugs, a milestone in drug therapy. It reviews the state of the drug, and looks at hypotheses on its mechanisms of action, its metabolism into pharmacologically active metabolites, its unique distribution characteristics, and its various clinical uses.

Since the fortuitous discovery of its anticonvulsant activIty in 1962, valproate has established itself worldwide as a major antiepileptic drug against several types of epileptic seizures. Clinical experience with valpro ate has continued to grow in recent years, including use of valproate for diseases other than epilepsy, for example in bipolar disorders and migraine. In this volume on valproate emphasis is placed on the scientific back ground leading to the discovery of val pro ate, its subsequent pharmacologi cal and toxicological characterization, and its clinical development into one of...