Integrative and Comparative Biology Advance Access originally published online on September 15, 2008
Integrative and Comparative Biology 2008 48(4):545; doi:10.1093/icb/icn087
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Book Review |
Experimental Endocrinology and Reproductive Biology. C. Haldar, M. Singaravel, S. R. Pandi-Perumal, and Daniel P. Cardinali, editors.
Department of Biology
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Correspondence: E-mail: heather_patisaul{at}ncsu.edu
Experimental Endocrinology and Reproductive Biology. C. Haldar, M. Singaravel, S. R. Pandi-Perumal, and Daniel P. Cardinali, editors.
Enfield, NH: Science Publishers, 2008. 335 pp. ISBN 978-1-57808-518-7 (hardcover), $94.10.
To be honest, with a title like "Experimental Endocrinology and Reproductive Biology, I was expecting a much thicker book instead of the lean 321-page volume that arrived on my desk. I was also surprised to find that the contents largely focus on the peptide hormone melatonin. In the preface, the editors state that their goal in producing this text was to "summarize and review some of the latest discoveries concerning experimental endocrinology and reproductive biology." However, they apparently lost direction as only two of the four sections specifically deal with either. The other two sections are titled "Developmental Endocrinology" and "Endocrine Physiology" and contain information on subjects as diverse as the development and regeneration of the vertebrate retina and the role of the ultimobranchial gland in poikilotherms. More than half of the chapters deal with melatonin but the rest do not and it is not clear why the authors chose to include this information or how any of it fits together. Because endocrinology is a field with enormous breadth, it is quite common for the editors of a relatively short text such as this to choose a specialty region within the field, and then highlight key findings and provide some context as to how this new information might benefit researchers in other, related disciplines. Since most of the chapters in this text dealt with melatonin, I suspect that the authors tried to use this type of focused approach with experimental endocrinology and reproductive biology as broader themes. Unfortunately, I found the contents to be disappointingly disparate and although each individual chapter is reasonably interesting, the resulting book is little more than a compendium of individual and independent papers, some of which seem wildly out of place.
The text begins with two summary papers, the first of which describes the production and metabolism of melatonin, and is then followed by a synopsis of melatonin's functional role in gastrointestinal physiology. The third chapter, authored by Georges Maestroni, then switches gears completely and details how adrenergic receptors on dendritic cells within the sympathetic nervous system influence innate immunity. Although this chapter is well written, it is not clear how the information relates to either "experimental endocrinology" or "reproductive biology." The remaining chapters mainly describe the functional role of melatonin in a wide range of physiological processes including photoperiodic gonadal control, immunomodulation, obesity, and gastrointestinal function. What is absent, but needed, is a final, concluding chapter detailing how the preceding information fits together and advances the field.
It is likely that, for most readers, one or two chapters may be of interest, but it would be difficult to use this book for a class because a coherent synthesis is lacking. It is most appropriate for researchers or clinicians interested in melatonin and its role in reproductive and gastrointestinal physiology, immune function and photoperiod. The chapter authored by Michal Karasek and Anna Zielinska describing the potential oncostatic action of melatonin is particularly provocative and timely. For readers looking for a thorough and well-crafted compendium of either experimental endocrinology or reproductive biology, there are superior alternatives to this text.
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