Advances in Mucosal Immunology

This monstrous, 1,660-page compilation of poster/oral presentations of the 7th Congress of Mucosal Immunology is loosely organized into functional components of respiratory, gut, and related cellular and solid organ components of the mucosal host/environment interface. It represents an attempt to capture the entire universe of mucosal immunology known in mid-1993, and herein lies the fatal flaw so common when attempting to publish congress proceedings (especially international) in timely fashion. Many a gamma/delta cell and mucosal related cytokine has visited the gut since that time! This potpourri contains papers that are almost all extremely brief and range from presentation of technical details and advances to several elegant overview and novel observations. Apparently, none of the papers have been subjected to rigorous peer review other than presentation in a meeting format. The audience for this book would include any microbiologist/immunologist interested in mucosal immunology. This two-volume book suffers from several extreme technical deficiencies, one being the lack of a table of contents in the second volume and another being an almost nonfunctional index. The greater than three-year delay to print makes the latter defect even more vexing. The virtue of this book lies in its containing the nida and seeds of important immunologic observations that portend the unfolding renaissance of mucosal immunology, especially in the areas of tolerance induction and vaccine routes. Thus, it does deserve a place in immunobiology libraries as a source book and a provider of historical perspective.