178
BOOK REVIEWS Biochemical Tests for Identification of Medical Bacteria:
Books received of i n t e r e s t to the Clinical C h e m i s t :
Clinical C h e m i s t r y in Diagnosis and Treatment, £nd Edi-
tion. Zilva, J. F. and Pannall, P. R. Year Book Medical
Publishers, Inc. ,1975.
T h i s " l i t t l e " book (479 p a g e s ) is still t h i s r e v i e w e r ' 8
f a v o u r i t e single source of clinical c h e m i s t r y i n f o r m a t i o n
of a widely v a r i e d n a t u r e . Drs. Zilva a n d P a n n a l l d e s e r v e
o u r c o n g r a t u l a t i o n s f o r t h i s u n i q u e work. T h e c h a p t e r
" B i o c h e m i c a l E f f e c t s of T u m o u r s " i l l u s t r a t e s t h i s v e r y
well as it is obviously w r i t t e n f r o m t h e p o i n t of view of
how the clinical c h e m i s t sees these problems, w h i c h a r e
discussed in so m a n y o t h e r places w i t h o u t t h e i n f o r m a t i o n
we require. The use of SI u n i t s ( w h i c h does not m e a n
t h a t e v e r y t h i n g m u s t be r e t o o l / l ) is also p l e a s i n g to find.
I n conclusion, Zilva a n d P a n n a l l is still the best single
source of clinical c h e m i s t r y i n f o r m a t i o n (in all its a s p e c t s )
a n d I c a n n o t i m a g i n e a n y of us b e i n g w i t h o u t it.
Methods of Hormone A n a l y s i s , Edited by Breuer, H.,
Hamel, D. &nd Kruskemper, H. L. John Wiley and Sons,
Toronto, 1976.
T h i s excellent volume c o n t a i n s c u r r e n t l y applicable
m e t h o d s f o r p l a s m a A C T H , T S H , F S H , LH, P T H , calci-
tonin. T h e r e a r e also p r o c e d u r e s f o r "less exotic" sub-
' s t a n c e s such as cortisol, T4, etc. T h e section on GLC
of such s e r u m steroids as D H E A a n d t e s t o s t e r o n e a r e
p a r t i c u l a r l y well done. T h e book is r e c o m m e n d e d f o r all
clinical c h e m i s t r y l a b o r a t o r i e s doing work a t this level.
Handbook of P h y s i o l o g y : Section 7 - - E n d o c r i n o l o g y :
Volume IV - - T h e P i t u i t a r y Grand and I t s N e u r o e n d o c r i n e
Control, P a r t s 1 and 2. American Physiological Society,
Washington, D.C., 197~.
Because of t h e g r o w i n g r e a l i z a t i o n of the m a j o r control-
ling role t h a t the h y p o t h a l a m o - h y p o p h y s i a l s y s t e m p l a y s
ia t h y r o i d , a d r e n o c o r t i c a l a n d gonodal f u n c t i o n , such
p u b l i c a t i o n s as these a r e h i g h l y r e l e v a n t . T h e r e c e n t em-
p h a s i s on g r o w t h h o r m o n e r e l e a s i n g f a c t o r ( G H R F ) a n d
growth hormone inhibiting factor (GRIF, somatostatin)
in diabetes is j u s t one example. Both of these volumes will
be i n d i s p e n s a b l e to clinical c h e m i s t s involved in endocri-
nology.
D. J. CAMPBELL, PHD,
V a n c o u v e r G e n e r a l Hospital,
V a n c o u v e r , BC
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
A Gas-Liquid Chromatographic Determination of p-Chloro-
phenoxyisobutyric Acid and its Comparison to an Ultra
Violet Method
Clin. Biochem. 8, 4, 261-272 (1975)
CORRECTIONS
P a g e 262: HC1 in m e t h a n e ' siaould r e a d
'HC1 in m e t h a n o l ' .
P a g e 262: ' N e t OLD S a m p l e " should r e a d
' N e t OD S a m p l e '
Jean F. MaeFaddin. The Will iama and Wilkins Co., Balti-
more, 1976.
T h i s book is w r i t t e n f o r t h e B a c t e r i o l o g i s t a n d will be
of limited i n t e r e s t to a n y o t h e r l a b o r a t o r y scientist. I t
a t t e m p t s to give b a c t e r i o l o g y s t u d e n t s complete i n f o r m a -
tion a b o u t t h e p e r f o r m a n c e a n d use of the common bio-
chemical t e s t s e n t a i l e d in i d e n t i f y i n g b a c t e r i a .
T h e a u t h o r h a s a m a s s e d a l a r g e q u a n t i t y of detailed
useful i n f o r m a t i o n a n d t h i s could be a u s e f u l r e f e r e n c e
t e x t f o r b a c t e r i o l o g i s t s in solving t e c h n i c a l p r o b l e m s a n d
i d e n t i f y i n g u n c o m m o n isolates. I t c a n n o t be r e c o m m e n d e d
f o r use by most s t u d e n t s because of its limited scope a n d
excessive detail. A s y n o p s i s of t h i s book w i t h a m o r e
r e a d a b l e f o r m a t , f e w e r r e f e r e n c e s a n d a reduced price
would be more useful in t r a i n i n g b a c t e r i o l o g y s t u d e n t s .
F. J. ROBERTS, MD,
V a n c o u v e r G e n e r a l Hospital,
V a n c o u v e r , BC
Radioimmunoassay and Related Topics in Clinical Bio-
chemistry: Edited by C. A. Pasternak, Heyden and Son,
London, 1975, 0,99 pages. $29.50, 13.80 pounds.
T h i s book fulfils the need of clinical r e s e a r c h w o r k e r s
f o r a n up to d a t e s u m m a r y of the v a r i o u s t e c h n i q u e s in
use in the field of clinical r a d i o i m m u n o a s s a y . I t is b a s e d
on the p a p e r s p r e s e n t e d a t a S y m p o s i u m on R a d i o i m m u n o -
a s s a y a n d R e l a t e d Topics in Clinical B i o c h e m i s t r y held
in Oxford, S e p t e m b e r 24-26, 1974.
T h e book is divided into six m a j o r sections, each con-
t a i n i n g a series of articles, the c o n t r i b u t i o n s of over 60
w o r k e r s in t h e field. T h e f i r s t , G e n e r a l Methodology, in-
cludes a r t i c l e s d e a l i n g w i t h r a d i o i m m u n o a s s a y design,
s a m p l e p r e p a r a t i o n , d a t a p r o c e s s i n g a n d a p p r o a c h to au-
t o m a t i o n of r a d i o i m m u n o a s s a y techniques. I t p r o v i d e s a
good s u r v e y of f u n d a m e n t a l p r i n c i p l e s to those u n f a m i l i a r
w i t h t h e field as well as m a n y i n s t r u c t i v e ideas to those
e m p l o y i n g r a d i o i m m u n o a s s a y s in t h e i r l a b o r a t o r i e s . T h e
s u b s e q u e n t sections - - D r u g s ; S t e r o i d s ; T h y r o i d h o r m o n e s ;
Protein hormones; Antibodies and other Proteins, offer
a r t i c l e s d e a l i n g w i t h specific methodologies. T h e y a r e t e c h -
nical a n d of i n t e r e s t m a i n l y to those w o r k e r s d i r e c t l y in-
volved w i t h r a d i o i m m u n o a s s a y s . T h e a r t i c l e s p o i n t out fac-
t o r s a f f e c t i n g t h e v a r i o u s a s s a y s a n d p r o b l e m s w h i c h can
be e n c o u n t e r e d w i t h t h e assays, as well as p o i n t i n g o u t
some of the a p p l i c a t i o n s of the assays.
T h i s i n f o r m a t i v e book o f f e r i n g t h e combined e x p e r i e n c e
of m a n y w o r k e r s in t h e field of r a d i o i m m u n o a s s a y would
be a v a l u a b l e a d d i t i o n to the l i b r a r y of a n y l a b o r a t o r y in-
volved w i t h t h e use of t h i s technique.
J. TREPANIER, MSc
Division of Clinical C h e m i s t r y ,
V a n c o u v e r G e n e r a l Hospital,
V a n c o u v e r , BC
P a g e 262: ' N e t OLD S t a n d a r d ' should r e a d
' N e t OD S t a n d a r d ' .
P a g e 263: 'R ---- slope of line' should r e a d
' F ----slope of line'.
P a g e 263: ' a t 266 a n d 280 n m ' should r e a d
' a t 226 a n d 280 nm'.
P a g e 271: {in t a b l e h e a d i n g ) ' G C L ' should r e a d 'GLC'.
P a g e 271: '[t~C] c l o f i b r a t e ' , should r e a d
'[~4C] c l o f i b r a t e t~'.
M. Kraml,
A n a l y t i c a l Section,
Ayerst Laboratories,
Saint Laurent, PQ