Biochemistry: A Case-Oriented Approach

The initial edition of this book was published in 1974, as one of the first textbooks that tried to teach modern biochemistry with a clinical perspective. The recently revised fifth edition continues to be one of the few textbooks in biochemistry that focuses primarily on clinical aspects of biochemistry and thus remains a useful book for health science students. Interestingly, the first chapter covers nutrition, a highly underrepresented subject in most biochemistry texts, and is an excellent overview of the basic aspects of nutritional biochemistry, with a concise summary of the essential nutrients. Nutrition proves to be a strength of this text, as, in addition to the introductory chapter on nutrition, there are complete chapters on both lipids and cholesterol, with accompanying clinical cases. Most aspects of biochemistry are well covered in self-contained chapters, as the book progresses methodically through proteins, enzymes, energetics, carbohydrates, amino acids, and nucleic acids. There are also three full chapters on molecular endocrinology. If the book has a weakness, however, it is in covering the more detailed, molecular aspects of biochemistry. The coverage of this material, especially in the endocrinology sections, while complete, offers no more depth than what an advanced undergraduate might learn. Clearly, though, the authors have chosen to forgo a certain amount of depth in order to provide a clinical approach to biochemistry. Each of the 19 chapters ends with discussions of from five to ten clinical cases, such as methotrexate chemotherapy in the chapter on nucleotide metabolism, or gallstones in the cholesterol chapter. Each chapter includes a scant ten boards-type questions for student review. All in all, Biochemistry: A Case-Oriented Approach remains a useful textbook for medical students, primarily due to its clinical applications. While its level might be more appropriate to the advanced undergraduate, it would serve as a helpful companion to a more comprehensive molecular text such as Stryer.