Cytogenetics of the Mammalian X Chromosome. Part A: Basic Mechanisms of X Chromosome Behavior. Part B: Chromosome Anomalies and Their Clinical Manifestations

This book is the outcome of a symposium on sulfur amino acids, held, by a Japanese research society, in Tokyo in 1982. The papers represent a multidisciplinary approach to biochemistry and biological actions of the sulfur amino acids. The book is divided into several sections. In the first section, the cardiovascular actions of the sulfur amino acids are considered. Although the title of the section indicates sulfur amino acids are to be discussed, in fact, it is largely the biochemical effects of taurine which are addressed in these papers. Both animal studies (looking at the interactions between taurine and calmodulin in rat heart muscle) and human studies (the use of taurine as a treatment of congestive heart failure) are reported. Several papers discuss the effect of taurine on blood pressure in patients with atherosclerosis and hypertension. All of the papers attempt to develop the role for the use of taurine in the treatment of various cardiovascular diseases and support some of these ideas with research data. The second section is entitled "Chemistry, Biochemistry and Metabolism of Sulfur Amino Acids." Again, in this section human studies as well as animal studies and bacterial studies are reported. One paper, looking at the utilization of methionine in sheep, provides a great deal of detail about the methionine pathway; however, it is unclear to this reviewer how this relates to human methionine metabolism. The suggestion that the trans-sulfuration pathway is not of as great a quantitative significance in the sheep as it is in the rat, makes it even harder to compare how this might relate to the human. Several aspects of disposal of sulfur amino acids in the various other systems are considered in abstracts in that section. In the section entitled "Sulfur Amino Acids and the Liver," the effects of taurine after liver injury-either traumatic or infectious -are considered. The notion of the use of glutathionine as a protectant against the toxic effects of oxidants during liver injury is an interesting one and deserves further evaluation. Data are also presented to suggest that taurine may protect the liver against the damage of peroxides under certain toxic situations. This book will be of interest to clinical chemists and biochemists who are involved in investigation of the pathways of sulfur metabolism in mammals and other systems; it will not be helpful to those who are interested in the genetically determined human disorders of sulfur amino acid metabolism, as these are not discussed. Several of the papers may be of interest as reference material to others interested in liver function and response to injury. The volume will only be of interest to those with these specialized concerns and not to those who wish a broader approach.