Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Although the scientific literature on drug metabolism is extensive, it suffers from the disadvantage that the material is diffuse and consists largely of specialist monographs dealing with particular aspects of the subject. In addi­ tion, although there are a few excellent texts on drug metabolism in print, these tend to be earlier publications and hence do not take into account the many recent advances in this area. Our motivations for writing this book therefore arose from the clear need for a recent and cohesive introductory text on this subject, specifically designed to cater for the needs of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Much of the subject matter in this text is derived from various courses on drug metabolism given at the University of Surrey and the University of Glasgow to basic science students in pharmacology, biochemistry, nutrition and nursing studies, to pre-clinical medical students and to under­ graduate and post-graduate students in toxicology. Therefore, it is our inten­ tion that this text will serve as a primer in drug metabolism to a variety of students in the life sciences taking courses in this subject. The term 'drug metabolism' in its broadest sense may be considered as the absorption, distribution, biotransformation and excretion of drugs. To cover all these facets of drug metabolism in a single text is a voluminous task and therefore we have focused primarily on the biotransformation aspects of the subject.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

A welcome addition to the field, this book is well written and aesthetically pleasing to the reader. However, it requires of its readers a strong background in biochemistry. Although the authors state that their purpose is to cater to the needs of undergraduates and postgraduate students in health sciences fields, most undergraduates outside of the field of biochemistry would have great difficulty wading through the masses of chemical formulas to pick out the valuable information contained therein. The book will be most useful for those able to put the numerous references to specific drugs into a familiar frame of reference. That the volume contains a wealth of information is undeniable; Chapters 4 and 5, which discuss internal and external factors that impact drug metabolism, and Chapters 3 and 7, which present information relevant to pharmacokinetics, will be especially useful to practicing health professionals. Also, the final chapter will be useful to students and researchers in biochemistry who are interested in future in-vivo and in-vitro studies in drug metabolism. Despite its advanced nature, this work should be included in the collection of libraries that serve advanced undergraduate and graduate students in biochemistry, as well as those that serve graduate students in the health sciences.-T.D. DeLapp, University of Alaska, Anchorage