The Fourth Edition of Knobil and Neill's Physiology of Reproduction continues to serve as a reference aid for research, to provide the historical context to current research, and most importantly as an aid for graduate teaching on a broad range of topics in human and comparative reproduction. In the decade since the publication of the last edition, the study of reproductive physiology has undergone monumental changes. Chief among these advances are in the areas of stem cell development, signaling pathways, the role of inflammation in the regulatory processes in the various tissues, and the integration of new animal models which have led to a greater understanding of human disease. The new edition synthesizes all of this new information at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels of organization and present modern physiology a more understandable and comparative context.
Volume 1
Section 1: Gametes, Fertilization and Embryogenesis
1. Meiosis
2. Ooycte
3. Sperm
4. Fertilization
5. Gamete and Zygote Transport
6. Pre-implantation Embryo Development
7. Sex Determination and Differentiation
Section 2: Gonadal Steroids, Pituitary and Hypothalamus
8. Human Steroid Biosynthesis
9. Gonadal Steroid Action
10. Physiology of the Gonadotroph
11. GnRH neuronal network
12. Hypothalamic Control of Prolactin Secretion
13. CNS Control of Oxytocin Release
Section 3: Male Reproductive System
14. Testicular Development
15. Spermatogonial Stem Cells
16. Hormone Signaling in the Testis
17. Epididymis
18. Accessory Male Sex Structures
19. Immunophysiology of Male Reproductive Tract
Section 4: Female Reproductive System
20. Gonadotropin Signaling in the Ovary
21. Follicular Development: Mouse, Sheep and Human Models
22. Ovulation and Luteinization
23. Structure, Function and Regulation of the Corpus Luteum
24. The Oviduct and Endometrium
25. Steroid Receptors in the Ovary and Uterus
Volume 2
Section 5: Physiological Control Systems and Governing Gonadal Function
26. Control of the Ovarian Cycle of the Rat
27. Control of the Ovarian Cycle of the Sheep
28. Control of the menstrual cycle
29. Pathophysiology of the menstrual cycle
30. Puberty in the Rat
31. Puberty in Sheep
32. Puberty in Non-human Primates and Humans
33. Comparative Aspects of Reproduction
34. Seasonal Regulation of Reproduction in Mammals
35. Appetite, Metabolism and Reproduction
36. Stress and Reproductive System
37. Aging of the Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis
Section 6: Pregnancy and Lactation
38. Implantation
39. Placenta and Placental Transport Function
40. Placental Endocrine Function and Hormone Action
41. Immunology of Pregnancy
42. Parturition
43. Maternal Physiological Adaptation to Pregnancy
44. Maternal Brain Adaptation to Pregnancy
45. Fetal Epigenetic Origins of Disease
46. Lactation and its Hormonal Control
Section 7: Reproductive Behavior and Its Control
47. Sexual Differentiation of the Brain
48. Mate Selection and Pair Bonding
49. Male Sexual Behavior
50. Female Sexual Behavior
51. Parental Behavior
52. Epigenetic Control of Reproduction
Dr. Tony M. Plant studied for his PhD with Dr. Richard P. Michael in London and completed his postdoctoral training with Dr. Ernst Knobil in Pittsburgh in 1978. Since then, his research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study non-human primate models in order to better understand human reproduction. Dr. Plant has been particularly interested in the neurobiology of puberty onset, the neuroendocrine control of the menstrual cycle and testis, the endocrine control of spermatogenesis and, most recently, in the cell and molecular biology underlying spermatogonial differentiation. From 1985 until 2013 he served as Director of a multi-investigator, NIH-funded Center to study the physiology of reproduction, and he served as President of the International Neuroendocrine Federation (INF) from 2007-2010. He is a Foreign Fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of the Polish Neuroendocrine Society. Dr. Plant is also the recipient of the INF 2014 Geoffrey Harris Lecture.
Dr. Anthony J. Zeleznik received his PhD in Physiology from the University of Michigan in 1975. His doctoral work, conducted under the direction of Dr. A. Rees Midgley, Jr., was the first to document that a principal action of follicle stimulating hormone in the ovary was to induce LH receptors on granulosa cells, an action that enables the follicle to ovulate and luteinize in response to LH. Following the completion of postdoctoral work under the direction of Drs. Jesse Roth and Griff Ross at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Zeleznik joined the Department of Physiology at the University of Pittsburgh in 1978, where he began a systematic investigation on the physiological and cellular control mechanisms that govern the menstrual cycle in higher primates. Dr. Zeleznik served on the Editorial Boards of Endocrinology, Biology of Reproduction, The American Journal of Physiology and the Journal of Endocrinology, as well as having been appointed as a member of three NIH Study Sections.
Review from the third edition:
"Each successive edition has grown with the exciting new information generated in the interim. The third edition is no exception. [...] These volumes are clearly designed for students of reproductive physiology and cover almost every imaginable topic. [...] they certainly would be an invaluable adjunct to understanding the physiology that underlies clinical questions in reproductive medicine. These are the volumes that every graduate student or postdoctoral fellow in reproduction should have and probably would love to receive for Christmas. [...] every university, medical school and research institute should have these volumes in their libraries."
– V. Daniel Castracane, Foundation for Blood Research, Scarborough, ME for Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism (2006)