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BOOK REVIEW |
Department of Human Nutrition and Food Science, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California
Department of Molecular Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center & Beckman Research Institute, Pomona, California
Coenzyme Q: Molecular Mechanisms in Health and Disease. Valerian E. Kagan and Peter J. Quinn, eds. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2001.
Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is one of the hottest topics in nutritional supplementation today. A trip to any local health food store or "nutrition" center demonstrates its popularity, with dozens of products containing CoQ. A quick search of the internet finds hundreds of thousands of web pages dedicated to describing or selling CoQ. There is even an International Coenzyme Q10 Association which promotes research into the health benefits of CoQ. Coenzyme Q: Molecular Mechanisms in Health and Disease provides the reader with an encyclopedic review of current knowledge of the health benefits and biophysical mechanisms of action of coenzyme Q.
This text is not for the faint of heart, however, but is more aimed at the hardcore researcher in bioenergetics and antioxidant mechanisms. The first four chapters plunge headlong into the biophysics of coenzyme Q in membranes. The more casual reader may want to pull out the old physical chemistry and differential equations textbooks to keep up! Curiously, the authors and editors elect not to introduce the structure of CoQ and its analogs until the third chapter. Because function arises from structure in biochemistry, explaining the bioenergetic functions of CoQ by referencing its structure might have made the introductory chapters more palatable.
That CoQ is key player in mitochondrial energy production and biomembrane antioxidant defense is generally appreciated. This book goes well beyond the basics of CoQ to delve into its roles in dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, liver disease and general oxidative stress. Although the issue of supplementation is only touched on in a few chapters, CoQ supplementation does not appear to be warranted in the absence of pathology and does not seem to be an efficacious ergogenic aid for athletes.
The most intriguing and unsettled issue surrounding CoQ supplementation is whether it accelerates or delays aging. Extensive data presented in this text suggest that CoQ supplementation should delay aging by limiting oxidative stress. However, Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes with impaired CoQ biosynthesis capability (Ewbank JJ et al., Science 275:980–983, 1997) or a CoQ-deficient diet (Larsen PL, Clarke CF, Science 295:120–123, 2002) exhibit an extended life span. As the authors of one chapter state succinctly, "To Q or not to Q, that is the question."
This thorough treatment of coenzyme Q is marred by the somewhat repetitive nature of the text. The overlap between chapters and the typographical errors sprinkled liberally throughout make the reading a bit choppy. Several of the chapters are written less as book chapters and more in the form of journal articles describing original research. This may reflect a somewhat biased viewpoint on the topics presented in this way. Therefore, this work should be used as a comprehensive reference source rather than a textbook for a course.
Coenzyme Q is an inclusive summary of the multitude of disparate developments in coenzyme Q research over the last half-century. This book does not seem to have a cohesive target audience. Rather, anyone interested in membrane bioenergetics, oxidative stress and antioxidant mechanisms, or clinical applications of CoQ would be able to derive useful information from the text. While I would not add this volume to my personal nutrition library, it would make a fine addition to the library of a research or biomedical institution as a general reference text.
Advances in Isotope Methods for the Analysis of Trace Elements in Man (CRC Series in Modern Nutrition). Nicola Lowe and Malcolm Jackson, eds. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2001.
As diets become increasingly refined, trace minerals are among the first nutrients to be lost during processing. To ensure adequate intake of trace minerals in the diet or by fortification or supplementation, daily requirements must be established. Some of the scientific advances that improve our ability to detect minute quantities of minerals in biological samples in order to establish and revise these requirements are described in Advances in Isotope Methods for the Analysis of Trace Elements in Man. This recent addition to the excellent CRC Series in Modern Nutrition sustains the quality of its contemporary volumes.
The first two chapters present a brief history of the use of stable and radioactive isotopes, respectively. These introductory sections are followed by very thorough coverage of the isotopes commonly used for trace mineral analysis, instrumentation and data collection methods, and a bit on study design using isotopes. Thus, the foundation for the remaining highly detailed chapters is well laid.
The mathematical background required to analyze and interpret the data derived from metabolic studies includes an understanding of differential equations. The chapter on compartmental modeling by Claudio Cobelli and colleagues is an expertly presented treatise on the technical issues involved in selecting the appropriate model of the system under study. It would be nice to have more detailed discussion of considerations that affect the selection of single vs. multiple pools and when steady-state measures should be used vs. gathering kinetic information. While this is a concise overview with examples included, the novice reader may be well advised to consult more detailed texts when designing a study to trace mineral metabolism.
Trace minerals are allocated to specific compartments within the body, often concentrating in at most a few tissues or cells. The absorption of iron, copper, zinc and selenium is used to illustrate the design considerations for monitoring trace mineral absorption. The general concepts are thus well covered, although monitoring absorption of specific trace minerals not illustrated may be confounded by considerations not covered in the examples. The authors minimize the difficulty of accurately determining apparent absorption of the tracer/tracee, which may be highly variable depending on the test substance(s) and populations (cf. Exp Biol Med 226(4):271–282, 2001).
The chapter on kinetic studies of trace mineral metabolism, written by the editors, is surprisingly short. Perhaps their intent was to leave the detailed discussion to other authors in the subsequent chapters. Indeed, the later chapters do give sufficient treatments of the topic, leaving one to wonder why this chapter was not omitted in favor of a modest expansion of the compartmental modeling treatise of Cobelli et al.
Despite this minor flaw, the remainder of the text provides thorough review of the design considerations and experimental implementation and analysis for determining metabolism of iron, copper, zinc, selenium, chromium, manganese and molybdenum. Special considerations when dealing with pregnant or lactating women as test subjects are allocated to a single chapter devoted to the topic. Finally, the applicability of the techniques discussed to studying trace minerals in developing countries is given careful deliberation.
Advances in Isotope Methods for the Analysis of Trace Elements in Man is an excellent reference for the nutrition researcher whose central focus is the study of trace mineral absorption and metabolism. Although I would not recommend that the novice investigator depend solely upon this text as an entrée to the topic, this book provides excellent insight into the complexities of modeling trace mineral behavior in humans and is best suited for those somewhat familiar with the concepts of mathematical modeling of metabolism.
Nutritional Health: Strategies for Disease Prevention (Humana Press Nutrition and Health Series). Ted Wilson and Norman J. Temple, eds. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 2001.
Many diseases that plague the Westernized world have some foundation in nutritional dysfunction. Nutritional Health is a comprehensive snapshot of the state-of-the-art in nutritional aspects of disease prevention and potential therapies. This text is laid out with a good progression of themes, from social factors in nutrition-related diseases to the future of nutrition in the new millennium. The book not only reads well, but is neatly divided to provide a compact and useful reference with minimal topical repetition.
The book begins a bit roughly with a chapter on nutrition advocacy that ends up sounding like a public relations piece for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). A more balanced view would include some mention of other groups such as the American Dietetic Association. The next chapter on public policy redeems the coverage of social aspects of nutrition with its well-rounded overview of the role of society in causing and curing diet-related ills.
The coverage of calcium homeostasis presents provocative evidence of the potential role of calcium as a therapeutic agent from obesity to premenstrual syndrome. The antioxidants are particularly well represented in three chapters covering topics from isoflavones to the role of antioxidants in coronary heart disease (CHD). The chapter on cancer is solid, but would benefit from greater discussion of the role of nutrients in altered cellular signaling and activation of nuclear receptors such as the peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) and the cytochrome systems (CYPs). Similarly, the chapter on herbs presents numerous associative studies and could be strengthened considerably with more data on mechanisms of action, including the role of nuclear receptors in both actions and drug interactions of herbs. Along similar lines, the coverage of the role of exercise in health would benefit from inclusion of the popular use of ergogenic aids and high protein diets in athletic performance.
The chapter on dietary lipids and risk for CHD is disappointingly presented as a journal article. Rather than presenting a well-rounded overview of current opinion in lipidology as it relates to CHD, the authors instead focus on a meta-analysis of prior research. There is very little new or interesting material presented in this unfortunately jarring transition. However, the next chapter on diet and obesity more than makes up for the shortcomings of its predecessor with an excellent presentation of the current theories of the role of dietary fat and energy density in creating and maintaining the obese state. It would have been interesting to include data on carbohydrate overfeeding and on the high fat, high protein fad diets that are currently so popular. If lower fat intake can ameliorate obesity as the authors illustrate, why do these fad diets appear to work so well? This question and others could be neatly addressed in a more comprehensive lipids chapter, combining the chapters on dietary lipids, polyunsaturated fats and the metabolic syndrome (obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, cardiovascular disease). Next, homocysteine is finally given its long-due thorough treatment. If the research presented in this chapter holds up through the clinical trials currently under way, we may begin to see homocysteine in the same light as we do cholesterol now.
Among the more exciting and fascinating chapters is the one on the role of fetal programming in the development of the metabolic syndrome (focused on CHD). The role of the intrauterine environment on health in adult life is at the nascent stages of investigation, although serious work in this area has been ongoing since the 1980s. If we can develop our understanding of the role of fetal over- and under-nutrition, it may be possible to prevent or reverse the ravages of metabolic diseases. This chapter is thoughtfully constructed and is well-balanced between presentation of animal and human data.
Nutritional Health is an excellent source of information on nutrition and its role in the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases and cancers. The last few chapters are forward looking, presenting the developing fields of nutritional biotechnology and the use of the internet in researching and communicating nutrition concepts. This book is aimed at audiences from undergraduate students through practicing physicians, although the undergraduate student might be challenged to understand some of the material. Nutritional Health is a fine textbook that would also be a sound foundation to any reference library for dietetics, medicine or biomedical research.
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