The fourteenth edition of
Basic & Clinical Pharmacology continues the extensive use of full-color
illustrations and expanded coverage of transporters, pharmacogenomics, and new
drugs of all types emphasized in prior editions. In addition, it reflects the major
expansion of large-molecule drugs in the pharmacopeia, with numerous new
monoclonal antibodies and other biologic agents. Case studies accompany most
chapters, and answers to questions posed in the case studies appear at the end
of each chapter. The book is designed to provide a comprehensive,
authoritative, and readable pharmacology textbook for students in the health
sciences. Frequent revision is necessary to keep pace with the rapid changes in
pharmacology and therapeutics; the 2–3 year revision cycle of this text is
among the shortest in the field, and the avail-ability of an online version
provides even greater currency. The book also offers special features that make
it a useful reference for house officers and practicing clinicians.
This edition continues the
sequence used in many pharmacology courses and in integrated curricula: basic
principles of drug discovery, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacogenomics;
autonomic drugs; cardiovascular-renal drugs; drugs with important actions on
smooth muscle; central nervous system drugs; drugs used to treat inflammation,
gout, and diseases of the blood; endocrine drugs; chemotherapeutic drugs;
toxicology; and special topics. This sequence builds new information on a
foundation of information already assimilated. For example, early presentation
of autonomic nervous system pharmacology allows students to integrate the
physiology and neuroscience they have learned elsewhere with the pharmacology
they are learning and prepares them to understand the autonomic effects of
other drugs. This is especially important for the cardiovascular and central
nervous system drug groups. However, chapters can be used equally well in
courses and curricula that present these topics in a different sequence.
Within each chapter,
emphasis is placed on discussion of drug groups and prototypes rather than
offering repetitive detail about individual drugs. Selection of the subject
matter and the order of its presentation are based on the accumulated experience
of teaching this material to thousands of medical, pharmacy, dental, podiatry,
nursing, and other health science students.
Major features that make
this book particularly useful in integrated curricula include sections that
specifically address the clinical choice and use of drugs in patients and the
monitoring of their effects—in other words, clinical pharmacology is an
integral part of this text. Lists of the trade and generic names of commercial
preparations available are provided at the end of each chapter for easy
reference by the house officer or practitioner evaluating a patient’s drug list
or writing a prescription.
- Major revisions of the chapters on immunopharmacology, antiseizure, antipsychotic, antidepressant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral drugs, prostaglandins, and central nervous system neurotransmitters.
- Continued expansion of the coverage of general concepts relating to newly discovered receptors, receptor mechanisms, and drug transporters.
- Descriptions of important new drugs released through May 2017.
- Many revised illustrations in full color that provide significantly more information about drug mechanisms and effects and help to clarify important concepts.
An important related
educational resource is Katzung & Trevor’s Pharmacology: Examination &
Board Review, (Trevor AJ, Katzung BG, & Kruidering Hall, M: McGraw-Hill).
This book provides a succinct review of pharmacology with approximately one
thousand sample examination questions and answers. It is especially helpful to
students preparing for board-type examinations. A more highly condensed source
of information suitable for review purposes is USMLE Road Map: Pharmacology,
second edition (Katzung BG, Trevor AJ: McGraw-Hill, 2006). An extremely useful
manual of toxicity due to drugs and other products is Poisoning & Drug
Overdose, by Olson KR, ed; 7th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2017.
This edition marks the 35th
year of publication of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology. The widespread
adoption of the first thirteen editions indicates that this book fills an
important need. We believe that the fourteenth edition will satisfy this need
even more successfully. Chinese, Croatian, Czech, French, Georgian, Indonesian,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, and
Ukrainian translations of various editions are available. The publisher may be
contacted for further information.
I wish to acknowledge the
prior and continuing efforts of my contributing authors and the major
contributions of the staff at Lange Medical Publications, Appleton & Lange,
and McGraw-Hill, and of our editors for this edition, Caroline Define and Greg
Feldman. I also wish to thank Alice Camp and Katharine Katzung for their expert
proofreading contributions.
Suggestions and comments
about Basic & Clinical Pharmacology are always welcome. They may be sent to
me in care of the publisher.
