Abstract
Aminoglycoside Antibiotics is a comprehensive and up-to-date resource for academic and industrial researchers working in the area of designing new generation aminoglycoside (and related) compounds. It also serves as a valuable resource for understanding the mechanisms of action of these drugs (i.e., binding the 30S ribosomal subunit thereby disrupting translation) as well as the basis for multiple types of bacterial resistance. The text describes the genetics of aminoglycoside production in yeast and progresses to include a vast wealth of chemical structure and structure-activity information. Illustrations are numerous and sufficiently detailed to convey biosynthetic pathways and subsequent structural modifications. The content of the book is laid out meticulously into 11 chapters, each of which is clearly divided into sub chapters and subsequent sub sections using a decimal system that nicely preserves a sense of organization for the reader. This robust chapter organization complements the otherwise modest detail in the index of the book.
Aminoglycoside toxicity in humans and animals is addressed in one chapter and reveals much detail in the area of ototoxic effects. Conversely, nephrotoxicity is reviewed in scant detail. Putative mechanisms of toxicity are presented and relevant animal models are discussed to create an overall uselful reference material.
The book is adequately referenced, with an emphasis on publications within the last 10 years and includes late additions published within months of the book itself. The book is clearly written and is more likely to serve as a reference material than it is to comprise a work that the intended audience will read cover-to-cover. Pathologists working in antimicrobial discovery or toxicology may find Aminoglycoside Antibiotics to be a useful text to inform their work with medicinal chemists and other researchers in the context of antimicrobial discovery project teams.