Springer Leptin: 25 (Endocrine Updates, 25)

Product Description This book is an edited collection of the literature on leptin beginning with the discovery of leptin and a study of its affect on animals and in humans. Chapters will focus on the discovery, history, roles and regulation of leptin in all the major areas of physiology, as well as on assay methods, phylogeny and genetics. The timing of this volume is long overdue and is the first comprehensive coverage of leptin physiology in the field. Review From the reviews: "This book is unique among reviews on leptin because it covers a number of different areas, and does so well. … Overall, the book serves as an excellent resource for students and researchers and will provide an accessible starting point for more in-depth reading of the primary literature for a given topic." (Matthew J. Brady, Doody’s Electronic Journal, January, 2007) From the Back Cover The discovery of leptin little more than a decade ago, as a hormone produced in white adipose tissue with an important role in satiety and energy expenditure, was a seminal event in our understanding of adiposity. This initial advance in the new endocrinology of obesity was soon followed by the realization that leptin was not only produced in adipose tissue, but in many different tissues of the body, and that receptors were similarly distributed. Additionally, the early recognition of infertility that was associated with leptin deficiency prompted research that identified roles for the polypeptide in virtually every area of reproductive biology. A general interest in leptin has rapidly produced inroads into unexpected areas of physiology that may eventually elucidate the varied relationships of adiposity to human health and disease. These developments have been paralleled by a rigorous investigation as a product of pharmaceutical interest. The broad range of physiology and the clinical situations in which leptin is now implicated is reviewed for the first time in the present volume.   ***Series Editor's comments**** This volume integrates cutting edge basic and clinical information encompassing the expression of leptin and leptin receptors, pathophysiology and clinical role of leptin- a new neuroendocrine hormone with pleiotropic roles in appetite regulation, metabolic, inflammatory, neoplastic, cardiovascular and reproductive functions. This single volume encyclopedic coverage is indispensable to students, postdoctoral trainees, fellows, scientists and practitioners interested in neuroendocrine peptide control of multiple cellular functions. Shlomo Melmed, M.D.Series EditorEndocrine Updates