Exercise and Sports Science Reviews. Volume 15

decades, however, more and more research, including development of animal models, has led us to understand better different aspects of these diseases. Degenerative Retinal Disorders. Clinical and Laboratory Investigations by Hollyfield, Anderson, and LaVail comprises 40 papers, many of which were presented at the Sendai Symposium on Retinal Degeneration, held in Nagoya, Japan, in 1986. This volume is divided into three major portions: retinitis pigmentosa and other inherited retinal degenerations in man, inherited retinal degenerations in laboratory animals, and induced retinal degenerations in laboratory animals. The emphasis of the first part includes descriptions of clinical manifestations and family trees, evaluation of defects of metabolism in diseased retinal tissue, search for possibility of systemic defects that can cause retinal degeneration in individuals with these disorders, and molecular genetic studies of these patients. Methods of electron microscopy, immunocytochemistry, electrophysiology, and epidemiology were extensively used in these studies. Some of the interesting investigations linked dysfunction of glycoconjugations, hyperlipidemia, defects in decosahexaenoic acid metabolism, and disequilibrium of taurine homeostasis to retinal degenerations. The second part introduced animal models of degenerative retinal disorders, including rodent, feline, canine, and avian models. The abundance of tissues and consistent patterns of retinal degenerations in a defined population of animals allow researchers to probe further into the mechanisms and morphologies of particular diseases. In some cases, loss of retinal receptors begins during embryogenesis and the animals in fact are blind when they are born. Again, a variety of methods and techniques were utilized. Despite the existence of many animal models, there is, unfortunately, still a large gap between what we know about animal models and applications to human diseases. The last part discusses how manipulations of the visual system or even diet and environment of animals can cause retinal degenerations. Inductive processes include light exposure, ascorbate or taurine deprivation, intake of deferoxamine, urethane, or tumicamycin. Degenerative Retinal Disorders. Clinical and Laboratory Investigations, like other books consisting entirely of papers, contains a wide spectrum of works varying in quality and substance. Even the type differs from one paper to another. In general, however, the broad range of topics, together with many up-to-date and exciting investigations in this area, make the book useful for ophthalmologists, cell biologists, anatomists, and any vision researchers interested in retinal degenerations.