Abstract: This fourth volume in a continuing series for clinical nutritionists and nutrition researchers focuses on the nutrition of cells grown in culture, and on the nutrition of various species that may offer insights into human nutritional disorders. Specific research topics included in 10 authoritative overviews are: comparative insect nutrition; nutrient requirements of cultured mammalian cells; fatty acid metabolism in the newborn ruminant; vitamin D analogs in human and cow's milk; and carnitive nutriture in rats and humans. More general topics include: vitamin-responsive genetic anomalies; vitamin D-binding proteins; dietary protein, acidosis, and calcium balance; the neurobiology of vitamin B6; and the nutritional importance, metabolism, and function of inositols in health and disease. (wz).