| Summary: | Not much more than a decade has passed since the appearance of the outstanding handbook, Catecholamines, edited by BLASCHKO and MUSCHOLL, in the series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology. However, this extremely well organized volume dealt mainly with the origin, molecular actions, and fate of the naturally occuring catecholamines. It was felt that a separate volume should be dedicated to the remarkable and exciting progress made in the field of agents influencing the adrenergic system, both in physiologic and pharmacologic respect. The editor of the present volume considers himself lucky to have been able to persuade a number of eminent specialists to collaborate. The main concept of the present handbook is a systematic approach to the various effects of adrenergic activators and inhibitors starting with the chemistry and structure actitivity relationship, followed by the evaluation of adrenergic activators and inhibitors, and discussing their mode of action. The most voluminous part is the chapter dealing with the systemic pharma cology of these agents analyzing the effects on the central nervous system, on the autonomic nervous system, on the cardiovascular, the respiratory, the digestive, the endocrine system, on the skeletal muscle, and on metabolism. Kinetics and bio transformation, further toxic effects are discussed in the following chapters. A special chapter on clinical features concludes the monograph
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