Experimental and Clinical Neurotoxicology

Book excerpt: Two decades have passed since publication of the first edition of Experimental and Clinical Neurotoxicology pioneered the development of this discipline. Since then no other book has approached the breadth, scholarship, and balance of that landmark volume. For this long-awaited second edition, the original editors have been joined by Albert Ludolf, who brings expertise in biological neurotoxicology, and together with their distinguished contributors they have completely rewritten and reorganized the text.The scientific and clinical foundation is laid in three comprehensive introductory chapters. An overview of the biological basis of neurotoxicity provides the goundwork for discussing the scope of human and veterinary neurotoxic disease.The bulk of the text is devoted to an alphabetical treatment of chemicals with neurotoxic potential. This consists of tightly written overviews of the properties, actions, and mechanisms of all manner of substances, whether natural or synthetic. The neurotoxic side effects of experimental agents and of therapeutic as well as abused drugs are covered extensively. Environmental pollutants, workplace contaminants, personal-use products, food additives, and agents harbored by plants, animals, and humans for use against their respective enemies are discussed. Each substance is rated on a three-point scale for the weight of evidence indicating a specific neurotoxic effect in humans, animals, or laboratory models. These effects are summarized and cross-referenced in a series of appendices and an extensive index.In summary, the second edition establishes neurotoxicology as a scientific discipline that melds neurobiology, toxicology, and neurology. From this unique vantage point, the book examines in encyclopedic manner several hundred chemicals with the capacity to induce neurological illness in humans and animals. Indispensable for the experimental neuroscientist and toxicologist, as well as for practitioners of human and animal medicine, the book also provides an authoritative, critical, and pithy reference work for specialists in public health and the legal profession.