Timeline of Physiology - Endocrinology &
Metabolism
1689 Richard Morton
provides the first
description of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, characterized most commonly
in young females by their food refusal and extreme, life-threatening emaciation.
1820s Jean-Francois Coindet
first uses iodine in the treatment of enlarged thyroid gland (goiter) ultimately
leading to the commercialization of iodized salt.
1840-50s Claude Bernard
performs studies on the
production and storage of glucose by the liver. The glycemic function of the
liver becomes the first example of an “internal secretion.” He also performs
the first studies on the central nervous system control of glucose homeostasis.
1855
Thomas Addison
recognizes adrenocortical insufficiency or Addison’s disease, a condition in
which the adrenal glands do not produce enough cortisol. This represents the
first correlation of a collection of symptoms with pathological changes in an
endocrine gland.
1898 Robert Tigerstedt and Per Bergmann
discovered rennin, the active substance in kidney extract. They are able to
produce hypertension by injecting rabbits with the extract and demonstrate for
the first time that the kidney is an endocrine organ.
1901
John Abel and
Jokichi Takamine isolate and purify a substance from the adrenal gland that
has profound effects on blood pressure. It is referred to as epinephrine in the
U.S. and adrenaline in the U.K.
1902
Ernest Starling and William Bayliss
discover that the small intestine produces a substance, called secretin, that
stimulates the pancreas. They introduce the concept of a "hormone" from the
Greek word meaning "I excite.”
1906
Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins
discovers certain food factors were important to health and well-being. In
1912, Cashmir Funk named the special nutritional parts of food as a "vitamine"
(later shortened to “vitamin”) after "vita" meaning life and "amine" from
compounds found in the thiamine he isolated from rice husks. Hopkins and Funk
formulated the vitamin hypothesis of deficiency disease, stating that a lack of
vitamins can cause sickness.
1909
Emil Kocher
receives Nobel Prize for his research on the thyroid gland, which leads to the
successful surgical treatment of goiter.
1919
Harvey Cushing and colleagues provide evidence for a link between the anterior pituitary gland
and reproductive organs.
1914
Edward Kendall
isolates thyroxine, the active hormone of the thyroid gland, and shares the 1950
Nobel Prize with Tadeus Reichstein and Philip Hench for discoveries relating to
the structure and biological effects of adrenal cortical hormones.
1917
George Papanicolau
discovers the estrous cycle in guinea pigs and introduced the vaginal smear test
that later becomes known as the Pap Test used for detecting cervical cancer.
1920s Herbert Evans
and Joseph Long
describe the relationship between the anterior pituitary gland and growth
leading to an explanation for dwarfism and gigantism.
1920s
Physiologists working independently in Japan (1924) and Austria (1927) devise
the "Rhythm Method" of birth control. After figuring out that women are fertile
approximately midway through the average menstrual cycle, they conclude that
pregnancy can be avoided by abstaining from sex during that fertile period.
1921
Frederick Banting, Charles Best
and John Macleod
discover the hormone insulin that leads to the first effective treatment for
diabetes. Banting and Macleod win the 1923 Nobel Prize for their research and
share their award with colleagues Best and James Collipp.
1922
A.V. Hill and
Otto Meyerhof receive the Nobel Prize for their research on skeletal muscle,
especially that related to the generation of heat, and the relationship between
oxygen consumption and lactate production. This work leads to a better
understanding of the energy used to sustain muscular contraction. Hill coined
the term “oxygen debt.”
1928
Selmar Aschheim
and Bernhardt Zondek develop the urine pregnancy test, forerunner
of the modern home pregnancy test.
1920-30s
Researchers isolate and purify testosterone, the primary male hormone.
1931
L. Haberlandt
demonstrates that pregnancy can be prevented by injection of pregnancy
hormones. This discovery culminates in the development of the modern birth
control pills. The discovery is largely ignored until the 1950s when Gregory
Pincus develop the contraceptive pill.
1931
Otto Warburg
receives the Nobel Prize for discovering the mechanism of cell oxidation and
identifying the iron-enzyme cytochrome complex, which catalyzes this process.
Warburg won another Nobel in 1944 for his cancer-related research, but was not
permitted to accept the award by Hitler.
1936
Hans Selye
introduces the concept of “stress,” and demonstrates that stress, for better or
worse, is a constant influence in our daily lives. This research extends the
early work of Walter Cannon who demonstrated adrenal secretion of epinephrine in
response to threatening circumstances. Together these ideas give rise to the
concept of “fight or flight.”
1937
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
receives the Nobel Prize for his work on Vitamin C, demonstrating its
antioxidant properties. Antioxidants delay or prevent the damage to cellular
macromolecules (such as DNA) caused by exposure to free radicals.
1942
Russell Marker discovers a way to make synthetic progesterone with Mexican wild yams. His
discovery makes progesterone production affordable and becomes the basis for
hormonal oral contraceptive birth control pills.
1940s Carl and
Gerty Cori, a husband and wife team who collaborated much of their lives,
study the fate of glucose and define how it is converted to lactate under
conditions such as intense exercise to yield energy. They win the 1947 Nobel
Prize for their work.
1940-50s Hans Krebs
and colleagues
elucidate complex chemical processes that provide all living organisms with
cellular energy through the TCA or Krebs cycle. They are awarded the Nobel
Prize in 1953.
1945
Cho Li and
Herbert Evans isolate growth hormone which is responsible for normal growth
and development. Evans also invents “Evans Blue” dye used for measuring blood
volume.
1948
Phillip Hench and
colleagues report the anti-inflammatory actions of the hormone cortisone in the
treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. At the time, cortisone was considered a
“miracle drug.”
1949
Leon Velluz and Gaston Amiard
discover Vitamin D – the “sunshine vitamin.”
1950s Solomon Berson
and Rosalyn Yalow
develop the radioimmunoassay that allowed detection of minute concentrations of
biological or pharmacological substances in blood and other fluids. This
methodology, for which Yalow is awarded the 1977 Nobel Prize, revolutionizes
endocrinology because it is a rapid and simple way to quantify the concentration
of many different peptide hormones.
1953
Vincent duVigneaud
and colleagues synthesize
the first peptide hormone oxytocin for which he is awarded the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry in 1955. Oxytocin is important for stimulation of milk secretion from
the mammary gland and uterine contraction during birth. The synthetic form of
oxytocin, known as “pitocin” is used today in clinical medicine to increase
uterine contractions and speed the birthing process. duVigneaud is considered by
many to be the father of modern peptide research.
1960-70s Alfred Gilman
and Martin Rodbell
perform seminal studies elucidating the general mechanism of message
transduction from the exterior of the cell to its interior. They discover that
G-proteins play a crucial role in relaying sensory and hormonal messages to the
cells. This finding leads researchers toward an improved understanding of
widespread diseases like cholera and diabetes, and wins them the Noble Prize in
1994.
1968
Stanley Dudrick perfects a technique for successful long-term delivery of total intravenous
nutrient solution leading to current day nutritional support of critically ill
patients.
1970
Pierre Changeux
isolates the acetylcholine receptor. It is the first receptor to be identified.
1970s Michael Brown
and Joseph Goldstein
perform studies concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism that
contribute to development of lifesaving cholesterol-lowering statin drugs and
treatment of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). They win a 1985 Nobel
Prize for their research.
1970s Roger Guillemin
and Andrew Schally
isolate and purify a wide array of peptide hormones (“releasing factors”) from a
part of the brain called the hypothalamus that control hormone-producing glands,
including Thyroid Releasing Factor (TRF) and Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH).
They win the 1977 Nobel Prize for this discovery and open new avenues of
research into how the brain and hormones work.
1960-70s Sune Bergstrom, Bengt Samuelsson
and John Vane
characterize the structure of prostaglandins. Further, they find that these
compounds cause inflammation and that their production can be inhibited by
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin. They are awarded the
Nobel Prize in 1982.
1971
Earl Sutherland wins a Nobel Prize for identifying cyclic AMP, a chemical or second messenger
that mobilizes blood sugar in response to adrenaline so that the host can
respond to stress. This is the first discovery of a signaling system inside the
cell. cAMP turns out to be a "missing link" in a long series of biological
control mechanisms. This discovery leads to understanding of a broad range of
hormones, neurotransmitters and pharmaceutical agents.
1973
Solomon Snyder and colleagues demonstrate that human brains contain receptors to opiates such
as heroin and morphine explaining the pharmacological properties of these
drugs. This leads Snyder and others to seek the body’s own opiates called
enkephalins and endorphins that form the basis of the “runners high.”
1981
Adolfo J. de Bold
establishes that the heart produces a hormone (atrial natriuretic factor) that
helps regulate blood pressure and kidney function, and paves the way for the
development of new antihypertension and diuretic drugs.
1995
Jeffrey Friedman discovers the hormone leptin (from the Greek word leptos, meaning thin)
which has important effects in regulating body weight, metabolism and
reproductive function. Leptin, the first member of a new class of mediators
called adipokines, is expressed predominantly by adipocytes and supports the
idea that body weight is a measure of total fat mass.
- Compiled by:
- Charles
H. Lang, PhD
- Department of Cellular & Molecular Physiology
- Penn
State College of Medicine
- Hershey, PA 17033
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