An Introduction to Vascular Biology: From Basic Science to Clinical Practice

Abstract

2nd ed, edited by Beverley J. Hunt, Lucilla Poston, Michael Schachter, and Alison Halliday, 458 pp, with illus, Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press, 2002.According to the editors, the 2nd edition of An Introduction to Vascular Biology: From Basic Science to Clinical Practice “provides a broad overview of the field for both specialist and newcomer to the field and concise resource for the non-specialist.” This purpose is fulfilled in this well-written, well-illustrated book.The text is divided into 3 parts encompassing 19 chapters and an index. The first part is entitled “Basic Science” and includes 7 well-presented chapters on vascular tone, vascular compliance, flow-mediated responses in the circulation, neurohumoral regulation of vascular tone, angiogenesis, the regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell apoptosis, and wound healing. The second part of the book is titled “Pathophysiology: Mechanisms and Imaging” and includes chapters on genes and hypertension, the endothelium in health and disease, nitric oxide, and magnetic resonance imaging in vascular biology. The third part is entitled “Clinical Practice” and includes thoughtful and well-presented chapters such as vascular biology of hypertension, atherosclerosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, the vasculature in diabetes, the vasculitides, pulmonary hypertension, role of endothelial cells in transplant rejection, and vascular function in normal pregnancy and preeclampsia. The chapters are illustrated with ample figures including graphs, charts, diagrammatic representations, electron micrographs, and magnetic resonance imaging figures.The book starts with a discussion on vascular tone and is followed by a discussion on a variety of intricate topics. These topics include regulation of calcium in vascular smooth muscle cells, K channels, chloride channels, voltage-operated calcium and sodium channels, calcium channels, the ultrastructure of the contractile apparatus in smooth muscle besides tyrosine phosphorylation, small G proteins, and the MAP kinase pathway. The book delves more deeply into the intricacies of vascular compliance, vascular flow, and neurohumoral regulation and takes the reader through a description of normal and pathological aspects of endothelial cell function and on to the role of the vasculature in pregnancy, hypertension, and atherosclerosis.My only complaint is that a fair number of scattered spelling mistakes in the book may impede complete comprehension of the text. However, overall, this book is well written and well illustrated and is an extremely handy and concise reference.