Relaxin

The last half of the book is slightly more clinically oriented. Aspects of substrate and hormonal regulation of glucose, lactate, and ketone body metabolism are covered during both normal and pathological states such as diabetic ketoacidosis, lactic acidosis, catecholamine stress, fasting, hypoxia, and congenital aciduria. This book should be of considerable interest to clinicians who wish to extend their knowledge of the far-reaching effects of metabolic acidosis during normal and pathological states, especially if a quantitative understanding is appreciated. This work lacks unity in the sense that it is more a collection of papers than a monograph on metabolic acidosis. Continuity is based solely on the single subject theme of the symposium. The advantage is, of course, that each paper can be read independently of the others. The final point to be made concerns the panel discussions at the end of each paper. These discussions are highly recommended and worthwhile reading, not simply for the additional information and references, but also as an indication of the state of the art of the research. The researchers' differences of opinion and the un-answered questions are in their own way just as informative and pertinent as the papers preceding them. The polypeptide hormone relaxin has in the past gained and lost in regard to its purported clinical importance, although its biological importance has been substantially recognized. It was discovered in 1926, and its major function seems to be its ability to relax pelvic ligaments. As stated in the introduction to Relaxin, significant work was not done until Dr. O.D. Sherwood was able to isolate the hormone, thus facilitating its investigation. This book comprises the Proceedings of the Fif-teenth Midwest Conference in Endocrinology and Metabolism held in 1979. Each chapter represents an in-depth paper presented at this conference. Such biological aspects are discussed as its cellular localization, rates of production, and effects on receptors and messenger RNA. Excellent contributions with respect to its chemical structure and assay are included. By dint of the reviewer's interests, the chapter entitled, "Need for Human Relaxin," by F.C. Greenwood and G.D. Greenwood, although short, was quite provocative. They conclude that once a radioimmunoassay for human relaxin is worked out, its effect in pregnancy and on placental metabolism will become more understandable and, hence, cause a renaissance in interest in the role of relaxin in the pregnant human patient. A fascinating study by Maclennan is cited in which when …