New Cardiovascular Drugs 1986. Edited by Alexander Scriabine. Raven Press: New York. 1986. xi + 274 pp. 16 x 24 cm. ISBN 0-881 67-209-2. $65.00. This book is the fourth of a series New Drugs Annual: Cardiovascular Drugs, and is composed of 14 chapters, 13 of which are monographs on new drugs. The final chapter is a brief, though provocative commentary on the role of advisory committees in the drug approval process with some suggestions on increasing the effectiveness of these groups.
As in earlier editions of this series, the reviewed drugs are classified according to major therapeutic uses which vary from volume to volume. In this particular instance, the uses include antihypertensive drugs (terazosin, carteolol), cardiac stimulants (alfedrine, enoximone, imazodan), antiarrhythmics (cibenzoline, asocainol, mexiletine), antithrombotics (nafazatrom, soluctidil) and cardioprotectives (iloprost, OKY-1581, magnesium asparate hydrochloride). The information presented covers pharmacology (and electrophysiology where appropriate), toxicology, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, and clinical studies. In many instances a discussion of the mechanism of action of the drug is included in the chapter.
The review of the pharmacology of the agents is quite comprehensive with an adequate number of figures and graphs in each chapter depicting various dose response characteristics. It is always of interest to see the pharmacological data which led to the identification of each of these agents as clinical candidates. This is especially true of those compounds with more contemporary cardiovascular actions such as the "cardioprotectives"; in this case newer approaches to establish efficacy are described.
The metabolism of these agents, when known, is often presented in terms of chemical structures or metabolic pathway schemes, a valued feature of these volumes. Other strong points of the text are the timeliness of cited references, detailed subject index, and the generous use of tables, figures, headings, and subheadings throughout the chapters. The content of the chapters follows a logical progression of test information ending with the available clinical results, therapeutic uses, and potential side effects. Many chapters finish with a summary or conclusion section.
Within many of the chapters of this volume and earlier members of this series, a section headed "Chemistry" is included. However, in this section, one usually finds only the name, physical properties, and physical constants of the titled compound, an incongruity that might be addressed in future editions.
This volume should be a valuable source of information for preclinical and clinical investigators involved with the development of new cardiovascular drugs. The inclusion of the chapter on magnesium aspartate hydrochloride provides a bit of frosting to the cake. The magnesium ion has been receiving increasing attention because of its role in catalysis and modulation of cellular function. This timely account of the cardiovascular pharmacology of the magnesium ion and the therapeutic activity of this agent makes this presentation an appealing finish to the monograph chapters.