Pharmacology and Pathophysiology of the Control of Breathing PDF

PREFACE

We would be seriously remiss if we did not first acknowledge the work of the ‘‘fourth editor'' of this volume, Debra L. Lipscomb. Without her careful scrutiny of every chapter and her abilities to pick out problems in meaning, grammar, spelling and references, the quality of this volume would have been severely compromised.

Previous volumes in this series have dealt with the regulation of breathing and it was the volume edited by Dr. Thomas Hornbein in 1981 that has served as an essential reference for us during our careers. We are particularly gratified that he has provided a Foreword to this volume. Subsequent volumes in this series dealing with the control of breathing, as well as the two volumes in the American Physiological Society's Handbook of Physiology have provided up-to-date summaries of the field in the face of a rapid increase in knowledge.

Pharmacology has long played an important role in the control of breathing, both in providing tools for physiological experiments and in understanding the ventilatory effects of pharmacological agents.

The increase in knowledge in both physiology and pharmacology has greatly extended our knowledge of the cellular and subcellular elements involved in controlling ventilation. Drug effects on control of breathing were covered as a single chapter in both Hornbein's original volume as well as in the Handbook of Physiology. However, the increase in our understanding of the mechanisms of action of pharmacological agents on the control of breathing now warrants a separate volume.

We have attempted to organize this knowledge by first reviewing the relevant physiology from a perspective of the substrate for pharmacological action and also by reviewing pharmacology principles as they can be applied to the control of breathing. We then have selected topics of pathophysiology and pharmacology that are relevant to clinical practice. It is hoped that this organization, rather than organizing by drug, will provide a more useful reference for both clinicians and research scientists.

There are many clinical problems both in respiratory side effects of drugs and in finding drugs that will treat abnormalities in the control of breathing that remain to be solved. The increased understanding of the specific ion channels, receptors and neurotransmitters involved in respiratory control provides important information for pharmacological research. We hope this volume will set the stage for future research and provide as much motivation for beginning reseachers as Dr. Hornbein's volume did for us.