Bücher der Reihe Comprehensive Immunology

Until recently, understanding of the lymphomas was limited and largely descriptive. Some neoplasms, heretofore classified as "lymphomas," now appear, from the results of penetrating analysis using newer methodology, to be malignan cies of the macrophage series, rather than of the lymphocytic series.

When we were first approached by the senior editors of this series to edit a book on interactions between the host and infectious agents, we acceptedthis offer as an exciting challenge.

By 1940, immunological mechanisms had been proved to have fundamental influ ences on a great number and variety of skin reactions, and skin diseases had brought to light a great number of fundamental immunological mechanisms that were basic to a wide range of different diseases, dermatological and nondermato logical.

With this surging new information about the immune system comes the possi bility of developing a pharmacology which can modulate and control immunologic functions. , the complement system and kinin-kallikrein system, and (4) utilization, modulation, and inhibition of the galaxy of molecules generated by T lymphocytes, the lymphokines.

As part of our comprehensive series on modern immunobiology which aims to digest this progress, we believe it is appropriate to devote an entire volume to the fundamental principles, new knowledge, and clinical lore on which the modern practice of allergy must be based.

When we were first approached by the senior editors of this series to edit a book on interactions between the host and infectious agents, we accepted this offer as an exciting challenge.

Since the discovery more than thirty years ago that antibody actlvlty could be localized to discrete plasma protein fractions, the study of immunoglobulin struc ture and function has dominated the field of immunochemistry.

We can also look forward to the assembling of a greater body of information explaining how and why the immune system fails with age while, paradoxically, the incidence of autoimmune diseases increases with age.