Physiology of the Endocrine System

Olga Smirnova, DSc, is Professor and the Head of the Laboratory of Endocrinology in the Biological Department of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. Her research is devoted to hormonal mechanisms of sex differentiation, hormonal receptors, and cellular and molecular mechanisms of hormonal action. She has over 200 publications to her credit, including textbooks on physiology and endocrinology, and is a member of the International Society of Andrology, the International Society of Aging Males, and the International and European Association for the Study of the Liver.

'The new book published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, The Physiology of the Endocrine System, by Olga Smirnova, provides a concise and easy to read presentation of this topic. The text is arranged in short paragraphs with descriptive subheadings and some of the material is presented in the form of "bullet points" or tables with key information summarized in a series of appendices. Consequently, specific information is easy to locate.The book focuses on human endocrine physiology, with occasional mentions of differences in hormone regulation or actions in other mammalian species. In this reviewer's opinion, Prof. Smirnova's book will be very useful to students of medicine and mammalian physiology, with easy access to much detailed and up-to-date information and ease of locating key points related to specific topics. This should help students to grasp key concepts (such as positive and negative feedback, receptor specificity, and multihormonal regulation of physiological responses), interpreting information gleaned from attending lectures, and reviewing the material before exams. Endocrinology is a very complex field and the format of this book will help the student in dealing with the overwhelming amount of information relevant to this branch of biomedical science.The Physiology of the Endocrine System, by Olga Smirnova, promises to be a very welcome and useful addition to the available books covering human endocrinology, thus assisting the students in absorbing information on the fascinating workings of hormones and endocrine glands.'Andrzej Bartke, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, 2019