Publisher's Synopsis
For the first time in the Handbook of Physiology an entire volume is devoted to neural and endocrine biology of the gut. This book is a comprehensive, up-to-date reference work that emphasizes the pharmacology, physiology, and cellular and molecular biology of hormonal and neural peptides of the gut. The early chapters deal with fundamental topics such as posttranslational processing of gut peptides, immunocytochemistry of endocrine cells and enteric neurons, tissue distribution of peptides, comparative neuroendocrinology, trophic actions, and the physiological significance of hormonal, paracrine and neural peptides. Several subsequent chapters deal with receptors of pancreatic acinar cells, gastric parietal cells, intestinal epithelial cells, liver cells and smooth muscle cells. The remaining fourteen chapters are devoted to individual peptides and describe their distribution, pharmacology, and physiological and cellular functions.
