Dukes’ Physiology of Domestic Animals (13th edition)
William O. Reece
748 pages. 2015. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-118-50139-9. Price $99.99.
For those familiar with previous editions of Dukes’ Physiology of Domestic Animals, the 13th edition will come as quite a surprise. The contents have undergone extensive reorganization and updating. The most striking changes are that the book now has a colored cover, most of the figures are in color, and the sections are identified by alternating blue and red markers. Although this edition is still authored by multiple authors, the author list is substantially shorter and different from that of the 12th edition. Nevertheless, all of the authors who contributed to the 13th edition are veterinary educators who are distinguished experts in their respective fields
The various sections of the book are fairly standard for a physiology textbook. In the 12th edition, kidney and respiratory physiology were inexplicably combined into 1 section. In the 13th edition, those 2 topics were appropriately split into separate sections. This edition contains a section on minerals and bone, subjects which are not commonly found in other textbooks. Considering the percentage of veterinary practitioners who deal with mineral deficiencies and toxicoses and orthopedic injuries and disorders, the editor made the right call to include this information.
As textbooks go, this book is a bargain for the price and is available in both electronic and print formats. Considering that this edition includes information on both mammals and birds, it is relatively short at 748 pages, compared with most human physiology textbooks that have > 1,000 pages. Although most subjects are not exhaustively covered in this book, it does provide sufficient information for veterinary students and other readers who need a physiology refresher. It is certainly a textbook worth consideration for undergraduate or professional physiology courses and those interested in the comparative aspects of physiology.
Reviewed by Richard E. Rawson, DVM, PhD
Cornell University Ithaca, NY
The Nonhuman Primate in Nonclinical Drug Development and Safety Assessment
Joerg Bluemel, Sven Korte, Emanuel Schenck, & Gerhard F. Weinbauer
697 pages. 2015. Academic Press (an imprint of Elsevier). ISBN 978-0-12-417144-2. Price $144.50.
Today, the use of non-human primates (NHPs) in research requires a large multidisciplinary team to successfully complete studies. The Nonhuman Primate in Nonclinical Drug Development and Safety Assessment is a great reference for preclinical laboratories that use NHPs because it discusses the needs of that diverse team. The book is divided into 9 sections including genetics, comparative physiology, pathophysiology, animal welfare, safety assessment and regulatory toxicology, translational drug development, technical aspects of toxicology studies, specialized toxicity testing, and future trends. It contains useful information for all research team members including veterinarians (laboratory animal, comparative medicine, and veterinary pathologists), research scientists (toxicologists, infectious disease specialists, and animal behaviorists), and research technical staff. Topics are discussed in a manner that is useful and inclusive of the animal care and use regulations currently in place in North America and Europe.
Laboratory animal and comparative medicine veterinarians will find this book valuable for gaining an understanding of the geographic and genetic diversity of NHPs and how those factors affect the clinical care, husbandry, pathophysiology, behavioral management, and welfare of the species selected for research studies. Section 1 provides a review of the evolutionary and geographic movement of the primary NHP species used in research (eg, macaques) along with inter- and intra-species genetic variations and detailed discussions on the major histocompatibility complex alleles (Mamu and Mafa) that are frequently the focus of infectious disease research. Sections 2 and 3 detail the comparative physiology and pathophysiology of NHPs. Section 4 discusses the 3 Rs (reduce, refine, and replace) in study design. Section 5 discusses alternatives to the use of NHPs in research. Section 7 outlines the sourcing and prestudy conditioning of NHPs, and section 8 discusses adequate group sizes.
Research technical staff will appreciate the information provided regarding the logistics of pre- and postmodel creation, animal training and restraint techniques, and study-specific testing techniques. Section 8 contains several examples that describe the use of ophthalmic technologies (eg, scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, optical coherence tomography, and electroretinography), respiratory function measurements, bone density imaging, and conscious administration techniques (eg, placement of vascular access ports with the use of restraint jackets). This book is also a valuable reference for institutional regulatory committees that assist in the review of study protocols.
Overall, the authors of this book have successfully amalgamated a massive amount of scientific literature related to drug development and provided important information on the diversity of NHPs, study design, current techniques, and ethical considerations in a reasonably priced book. The information is presented in a useful format that makes this book a quick, 1-stop reference. This book will be a complementary addition to the reference libraries of preclinical laboratories in North America and Europe.
Reviewed by Cheryl D. DiCarlo, DVM, PhD, MBA, DACLAM
Charles Rivers Laboratories Frederick, Md
