Laboratory Animal Endocrinology: Hormonal Action, Control Mechanisms and Interactions with Drugs

The complex and fascinating subject of endocrinology can often seem rather daunting for non-specialists. For practising endocrinologists too, maintaining a broad overview of the subject can be a major task. Laboratory Animal Endocrinology has been written with both these audiences in mind. Focusing on the species regularly used in experimental studies (including rodents, dogs and monkeys), each chapter presents a wealth of information on hormone structure, synthesis, secretion, receptors, second messengers and their actions, and considers the various physiological and pharmacological processes which may be involved in hormonal regulation. Interspecies' differences in hormonal structure, metabolism and interactions with drugs and other chemicals are particularly important to toxicologists and in drug safety evaluation. Laboratory Animal Endocrinology also explores these areas of research and provides much-needed support for the interpolation of endocrine data from one test species to another and to humans. The book is not intended exclusively for toxicologists however, but will prove indispensable for all those working with laboratory animals.