Abstract
The second edition of this American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine book series represents the expanded gold standard reference work for nonhuman primate biology, husbandry, and diseases, including clinical management and pathology. The format for this edition is similar to the first, published in 1995, covering biology and management in the first book and diseases and pathology in the second. There are many updates, expansions, and additional topics reflecting the rapidly changing field of nonhuman primate in biomedical research and its importance to translational medicine, clinical care of primates, and conservation. The panel of authors includes 47 in volume 1 and 44 in volume 2, many of whom are American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine or American College of Veterinary Pathologists diplomates, and a wide panel of expert reviewers, with continuity from the previous edition.
The early chapters in “Biology and Management” begin with a historical overview of the development of the field, updated regulatory issues, and expanded chapters on recent research in social behavior, reproduction, and breeding. There are contemporary chapters discussing emergency medicine and critical care, including common critical diseases and their diagnoses and treatment. A separate but related chapter on anesthesia includes current injectable and gas anesthetic protocols and pain management. New to this volume are chapters on the status of xenotransplantation and potential clinical translation to human medicine. There are separate chapters on biosafety in the laboratory and nonhuman primate models of safety and efficacy evaluation.
The second volume, “Diseases,” reads like a combined clinical medicine and pathology text, covering routine and less common diseases, lesions, and treatment. There are hundreds of high-quality, color gross, histopathologic, and occasional cytologic images; ultrasound images; along with tables including useful clinical, physiologic, and diagnostic parameters and clinical pathology information. The organization is by disease type rather than organ system; for instance, liver diseases are discussed across the chapters on various infectious and parasitic agents and neoplastic diseases, with a portion of the chapter on the digestive system covering metabolic disease and primary hepatic infectious agents. There are cross-references to appropriate chapters for more widespread or systemic diseases that also involve the liver. Some overlap of information is seen across chapters, though the degree of detail varies appropriately. Reference lists span a wide temporal range but are inclusive of current publications.
While principally targeted at the laboratory animal clinician, this book is useful and highly recommended to veterinary pathologists, laboratory animal and pathology residents, and clinicians in the translational medicine or zoo realm. A strength of this edition is the number of high-quality images, which are decidedly useful to those studying for laboratory animal or pathology boards. The focus is on the main species of primates used in the biomedical industry and research (Macaca mulatta and Macaca fascicularis), but the information is inclusive of more exotic species, including Saimiri and other New World monkeys and their interesting and unique features; thus, this text is also useful to those involved in conservation. It is also quality general reading for those seeking to understand the development and history of the field.