Pharmacology of Endogenous Neurotoxins

(ed. A. Moser, Birkhauser, 1998)

Biochemists and physiologists surely understand that excessive generation of endogenous regulators of the functions of an organism is the basis of many pathologies and sometimes severe diseases. However, consideration of some of these regulators or products of their metabolism as potential endogenous toxins is a new approach that enables reevaluation and studies of their spectrum and fine mechanisms of action. The studies of several neurochemists and pharmacologists united by A. Moser in the review book "Pharmacology of Endogenous Neurotoxins" are predominantly focused on tetraisoquinolines, beta-carbolines, methylimidazoles, tryptamines, and their complexes with alkaloids. The main sources of their synthesis in vivo are biogenic neurotransmitter amines and their metabolites. Certain levels of these compounds exists in a healthy organism; they are hyperproduced and can generate pathogenic toxic products under the action of certain exogenous factors (xenobiotics, alcohol, altered metabolism in infection, etc.) and endogenous inducers (genomic defects). The authors analyze the effects of these endotoxins in vivo and in vitro. The materials are focused on the induction of Parkinsonism and similar neurological disorders. Thus, the book demonstrates a unique approach and choice of endogenous toxins, pathways of their metabolism, and mechanism of their action.

The book is excellent in general, but two shortcomings should be noted. First, the term "endogenous toxin" remains somewhat vague and it is not strictly defined in the text. Second, the authors consider only a few endogenous toxins; their spectrum can certainly be extended. Thus, the title of the book is wider than its actual content; the introduction does not contain the description of other types of compounds which can be considered as endogenous toxins. However, the novel approach to the problem and the contents of the book make it invaluable for neurochemists, neurophysiologists, and pharmacologists.

Academician I. P. Ashmarin,
Russian Academy of Medical Sciences