Pharmacology′s successful approach emphasizes the mechanisms by which drugs act and relates these to the overall pharmacological effects and clinical uses. In doing so it sets out a clear route from a molecular understanding of receptors and drug actions, to the therapeutic uses of the most important groups of drugs. This edition has been fully updated, incorporating significant new information published in the last few years. New agents are fully discussed as well as extensions of basic knowledge. One new chapter in the final section on drug discovery looks at the rapidly changing processes involved which are driven by advances in molecular biology, and contains a brief account of the regulatory controls involved.

SECTION ONE: GENERAL PRINCIPLES
1. What is pharmacology
2. How drugs act: general principles
3. How drugs act: molecular aspects
4. Cellular mechanisms: excitation, contraction and secretion
5. Cellular mechanisms: cell proliferation and apoptosis
6. Method and measurement in pharmacology
7. Absorption and distribution of drugs
8. Drug elimination and pharmacokinetics
SECTION TWO CHEMICAL MEDIATORS
9. Chemical mediators and the autonomic nervous system
10. Cholinergic transmission
11. Noradrenergic transmission
12. Other peripheral mediators: 5-hydroxytryptamine and purines
13. Peptides and proteins as mediators
14. Nitric oxide
15. Local hormones, inflammation and immune reactions
16. Anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant drugs
SECTION THREE: DRUGS AFFECTING MAJOR ORGAN SYSTEMS
17. The heart
18. The vascular system
19. Atherosclerosis and lipoprotein metabolism
20. Haemostasis and thrombosis
21. The haemopoietic system
22. The respiratory system
23. The kidney
24. The gastrointestinal tract
25. The endocrine pancreas and the control of blood glucose
26. Obesity
27. The pituitary and adrenal cortex
28. The thyroid
29. The reproductive system
30. Bone metabolism
SECTION FOUR: THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
31. Chemical transmission and drug action in the central nervous system
32. Amino acid transmitters
33. Other transmitters and modulators
34. Neurodegenerative disorders
35. General anaesthetic agents
36. Anxiolytic and hypnotic drugs
37. Antipsychotic drugs
38. Drugs used in affective disorders
39. Antiepileptic drugs
40. Analgesic drugs
41. Central nervous system stimulants and psychotomimetic drugs
42. Drug dependence and drug abuse
43. Local anaesthetics
SECTION FIVE: DRUGS USED IN THE TREATMENT OF INFECTIONS AND CANCER
44. Basic principles of chemotherapy
45. Antibacterial drugs
46. Antiviral drugs
47. Antifungal drugs
48. Antiprotozoal drugs
49. Anthelminthic drugs
50. Cancer chemotherapy
SECTION SIX: SPECIAL TOPICS
51. Individual variation and drug interaction
52. Harmful effects of drugs
53. Gene therapy
54. Drug discovery and development.
Appendix
Index