This volume contains the text of the main lectures given by interna tionally recognized scientists at the Tenth European Workshop on Mo lecular and Cellular Endocrinology of the Testis, held in Capri, Italy, from 28 March to 1 April 1998. Topics include spermatogonial transplantation, germ stem cell biol ogy, regulation of meiosis and spermiogenesis, growth factors, cell sig naling and transduction, steroidogenesis, androgen-regulated genes, sperm activation and sperm factors active at fertilization and the mo lecular basis of specific pathologies of the testis. Looking back at the previous...

Forty years of Interferon I wish to dedicate this short introduction to the memory of Alick Isaacs (1921-1967), and to that of Sir Christopher Andrewes (1896-1988). Let us go back more than 40 years. In 1956 Isaacs was in charge of the Wodd Influenza Centre. Andrewes was head of the division of bac teriology and virology, and deputy director of the National Institute for Medical Research in London. When researchers are faced with a seemingly new phenomenon, ex planations are easy to come by. These explanations fall into two broad categories: the phenomenon in question is either due to...

Many women have to spend one third of their lives in a postmenopausal state and they should have a good quality of life during this period. Althoug HRT is well accepted as the logical treatment of climacteric problems, the prevalence rate is very low in some countries. The reasons for not accepting HRT are manifold and complex. The objective of this book is to describe the essential advances in basic and clinical research that forms the basis of current HRT and to give an overview of the efficacy and safety of HRT.

A number of chapters present the most novel research on testicular and epididymal functions or on more general fields of hormone action and molecular cell biology as it is now a tradition. However, exceptionally, the book also contains several chapters dealing with the "Approaches and Tools in the Third Millenium." The unusual inclusion of technologies as such in the 2000 edition of the workshop was an absolute necessity, as these technologies are revolutionizing the fields of biology and medicine and, in many instances, how to do research. This volume gives the scientific community essential...

Autoimmunity, characterized by autoreactive lymphocytes and autoantibodies, is the consequence of a failure to discriminate between self and non-self, and autoimmune diseases are an increasing threat to people living in the industrialized countries. Autoimmune disorders are treatable, but not curable, and patients can face disability at later stages of the disease. Thus, there is a medical and economic need for new concepts and treatments in autoimmune disorders. New concepts and treatments can only be achieved by an interdisciplinary approach bringing together expertise, technologies, and...

During the past two decades research on the testis has created a vast number of publications. New techniques, such as cell and gene clon ing, germ cell manipulation and transplantation, as well as gene ex pression, have surpassed the classical approaches that involved studies on receptor activation and endocrine, paracrine and autocrine regula tory mechanisms. Due to the expansion of this field of research it has become increasingly difficult to integrate the large number of observa tions and relate them to the physiology and pathophysiology of the tes tis. More emphasis must, therefore, be...

Die Vor- und Nachteile der Hormonersatztherapie (HRT) werden von einer Expertengruppe hinsichtlich der epidemiologischen Beweislage diskutiert. Obwohl alle positiven und negativen Aspekte der HRT behandelt werden, liegt der Schwerpunkt der Diskussionen bei der Frage des Brustkrebsrisikos. Unter anderem wird gezeigt, dass die aus epidemiologischen Studien abgeleiteten Ergebnisse sich nicht mit den Wachstumseigenschaften dieser Tumoren decken so dass weiterfuhrende Bevolkerungsuntersuchungen unter Einbeziehungen pathobiologischen Sachverstands notwendig erscheinen.

This volume...