An important collection of reviews summarising our current understanding of the working of the vertebrate kidney.

This Detailed Review Paper (DRP) is intended to provide the current state-of-the-knowledge in the area of fish screening assays for chemicals active at the endocrine level on the reproductive system of test animals.

Fish lives in environments with a wide variety of chemical characteristics (fresh, brackish and seawater, acidic, alkaline, soft and hard waters). From an osmoregulatory point of view, fish have developed several mechanisms to live in these different environments. Fish osmoregulation has always attracted considerable attention and in the last years several studies have increased our knowledge of this physiological process. In this book several specialists have analyzed and reviewed the new data published regarding fish osmoregulation. The chapters present an integrative synthesis of the different aspects of this field focusing on osmoregulation in specific environments or situations, function of osmoregulatory organs, general mechanisms and endocrine control. In addition, interactions of osmoregulatory mechanisms with the immune system, diet and metabolism were also reviewed. New emerging techniques to study osmoregulation has also been analysed.

Recent Progress in Hormone Research, Volume 42 covers the proceedings of the Laurentian Hormone Conference held on September 1985 in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The book presents developments in research on important topics such as chemical neuroanatomy of the brain based on the histochemistry of brain neuronal transmitters and peptides; the hormonal regulation of gene transcription and expression; and steroid hormone receptors and their action. The text also includes papers on the atrial naturietic factor; the fibroblast growth factor; and the neuroendocrinology of puberty in rodents, seasonal breeders, and humans. Papers on the comparative endocrinology including studies on marsupials, teleosts, and microorganisms; and parathyroid hormone, bioactive forms, gene expression, and malignancy-associated hypercalcemia are also encompassed. Endocrinologists, physiologists, biochemists, and scientists involved in hormone research will find the book invaluable.

Comparative endocrinology is one of the most rapidly developing subdis ciplines within the field of endocrinology, and it is having a significant impact on research at the molecular, cellular, organisma1 and environmental levels. Much of the current ferment in endocrinology is in reproductive endocrinology. The purpose of this volume on hormones and reproduction in fishes, amphibians and reptiles is to summarize our present understandings and to identify important research problems to be addressed in the area of comparative reproductive endocrinology. It was inspired by the gathering at Copper Mountain, Colorado, of eminent endocrine scientists from around the world on the occasion of the Tenth International Symposium on Comparative Endocrinology in July, 1985. While preparing for that meeting, we decided that a special volume on reproductive endocrinology was needed to summarize what is known and to stimulate research in particular directions. Why do we emphasize fishes, amphibians and reptiles? First, knowledge about the reproductive endocrinology of these ectothermic vertebrates can provide a clearer picture of the evolution of reproductive hormones and their effects on target organs. This comparative approach can lead to new theories about the evolution of reproductive control mechanisms. Second, studies concerning the reproductive endocrinology of "lower" vertebrates can result in development of "model systems" for application to studies of birds and mammals. Indeed, information about the patterns of reproductive control in ectothermic vertebrates can tell us which are evolutionarily stable and which are labile.

Through its emphasis on recent research, its many summary tables, and its bibliography of more than 4,000 entries, this first modern, synthetic treatment of comparative amphibian environmental physiology emerges as the definitive reference for the field. Forty internationally respected experts review the primary data, examine current research trends, and identify productive avenues for future research.