Advances in Steroid Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Volume 4 provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of steroid biochemistry and pharmacology. This book covers a variety of topics, including cellular biochemistry, pituitary hormones, corticosteroids, and steroid hormones. Organized into seven chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the potential effects of steroids on cellular biochemistry. This text then examines the development of sleep-monitoring methods, together with methods of plasma sampling that enable very frequent specimen to be taken without disturbing the subject. Other chapters consider the usefulness of sleep-related growth hormone release in diagnosis in both children and adult. This book discusses as well the versatile effect of corticosteroids on the cellular components of the connective tissue. The final chapter deals with the functioning of the adrenal cortex and its control by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). This book is a valuable resource for biochemists, histochemists, biologists, pharmacologists, clinicians, and experimental endocrinologists.