Gonadotropins

This exceptionally well done book organizes the proceedings of the International Symposium on Gonadotropins held at the New York Hospital Bicentennial Celebration in 1971 into 58 essays which survey the chemistry and physiology of FSH, LH, and prolactin. The book's major attribute is the special care taken to present gonadotropin research in perspective. Thus, the first essay, if not all of the essays, in each of the nine sections of the book is an authoritative review of the literature. Fundamentals are presented with remarkable clarity. Only secondary is the attempt to present new research. In addition, each section closes with a discussion which helps illuminate the preceding papers. The first section of this volume begins with a review of the role of the hypothalamus in the regulation of gonadotropin secretion. The experimental results presented are classic, but predate the most recent research to determine whether there are one or two separate gonadotropin releasing factors. The second section deals with the isolation, chemistry, and structure of the gonadotropins. The fifth and sixth sections are also of particular interest to those interested in applying radioimmunoassay techniques and who work with problems of specificity and antigenic similarity. The third and fourth sections deal with experimental approaches and the results of experiments conducted to determine the role and mode of action of gonadotropins in the development and function of gonads and placenta. Fascinating techniques discussed include the use of antibodies to gonadotropins. The final three sections examine the role of gonadotropins in sexual maturation, the pituitary-testicular and the pituitary-ovarian axes. Although clinical studies in man are relatively new, the last three sections contain a large body of physiologic knowledge gleaned from clinical observations and laboratory measurements in normal adults and children as well as individuals with enzymatic or gonadal deficiencies. Indeed, this volume is a highly commendable effort at assembling together laboratory data which has often been fragmented and clinical information only anecdotal.