books and software
A Starting Point for CE
Clinical and Forensic Applications of Capillary Electrophoresis Edited by John R. Petersen and Amin A. Mohammad Humana Press 2001, 437 pp, $125
T
he past few years have been witness to many breakthroughs in routine applications of CE in clinical and forensic analyses. These breakthroughs have been augmented by the increased availability of automated instrumentation and commercial test kits. Although several books have been published on various aspects of CE, this work is the first to focus on important applications in the fields of clinical and forensic analyses. This book reviews CE methods such as capillary zone, micellar, electrokinetic, capillary gel, and nonaqueous electrophoresis. The work discusses using various detection strategies in conjunction with CE, such as UV–vis, fluorescence, and MS, to investigate a broad array of analytes with clinical and forensic significance, ranging from serum proteins and PCR products to drugs and metal ions. Developments in capillary coatings and principles of CE-based immunoassay are also presented. The subject matter is divided into 6 sections and spans 20 chapters. Most figures, electrophoretic patterns, and tables are of acceptable quality, but a few have small print and are difficult to read. References are listed separately by chapter. Section I covers basic principles, modes, and potential applications of CE. Section II describes the techniques involved in the separation of serum and cerebrospinal fluid proteins, paraproteins, lipoproteins,
hemoglobin variants, and hemoglobin A1c. Section III examines CE-based analyses of organic acids, amino acids, and steroids, which are implicated in various metabolic diseases. Section IV discusses the development of CE-based immunoassays and their ability to simultaneously screen and detect multiple analytes. Section V describes the use of CE in molecular diagnostic applications, including short tandem repeats (STRs) and viral load testing. Section VI covers monitoring of therapeutic drugs and drugs of abuse, clinical and forensic toxicology, the use of CE to analyze heavy metals, and the combined use of CE and MS for the analysis of proteins and peptides. Although this book was easy to read, contained up-to-date subject material, and was presented in an overall logical format, it could benefit from some reorganization. Also, the authors may wish to consider switching sections II and IV. The book would also benefit by expanding some topics. Specifically, precision of CE is a fundamental issue for routine clinical and forensic analyses, and we would have liked seeing a chapter dedicated to the topic, perhaps in-
cluding methods for systematically optimizing this parameter. Similarly, more detailed information is warranted on the investigation of various CE operational parameters that influence the efficacy of separation, resolution, and the precision and sensitivity of PCR-amplified STR loci to generate consistent and reliable DNA typing results. Also, the clinical potential of microchip-based CE systems is only discussed over one-and-ahalf pages; this important subject deserves more attention. The text is mainly geared toward readers involved in clinical chemistry, toxicology, and forensic science. Although, it is not possible to cover all clinical and forensic CE methods in detail, the list of updated and pertinent references at the end of each chapter should guide the reader to more comprehensive descriptions. We recommend this book as a good starting point to review most clinical and forensic applications of CE.
Reviewed by Hassan M. E. Azzazy and Robert H. Christenson, University of Maryland School of Medicine–Baltimore
Books Received b Applications of Reference Materials in Analytical Chemistry P. Roper, V. Barwick, S. Burke, R. Lawn, and R. Walker Royal Society of Chemistry, 2001, 148 pp, $92 (not yet available in the U.S.) Users of certified reference materials will find this book a helpful guide for checking and calibrating instruments, validating methods, estimating the uncertainty of analytical instruments, conducting tests for internal quality control, and monitoring the performance of analysts and laboratories. b Applications of Inorganic Mass Spectrometry John R. de Laeter Wiley Publications, 2001, 474 pp, $99.95 The first section of this book retraces advances in MS since 1947. The sec-
ond section moves forward in time to cover inorganic MS applications, including developments in instrumentation, metrology, nuclear science, cosmochemistry, geoscience, environmental science, and planetary science. A comprehensive reference list for each application is also provided. b Microwave Techniques and Protocols Edited by Richard T. Giberson and Richard S. Demaree, Jr. Humana Press, 2001, 220 pp, $99.50 In step-by-step detail, this book examines classic and state-of-the-art microwave techniques such as in vivo labeling, formalin fixation of fresh tissue, vacuum-assisted microwave processing, and the development of electron microscopy for biological sample studies. Scientists and clinical researchers will find this book helpful.
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