Author
Marcus M. Reidenberg
Dr.Antonio Esteve Foundation
TORRE ESTEVEPasseig de la Zona Franca, 109
08038 Barcelona
Tel:
93 433 53 20
E-mail:
fundacion@esteve.org
Author
Marcus M. Reidenberg
Year of publication
2014
The germ theory of disease was initiated in the 19th century by Louis Pasteur. Lord Lister promoted the idea of antisepsis while Semmelweis focused on hand washing identifying the spread of infection by objects (in this case contaminated hands) moving from infected patient to uninfected ones. This gave the conceptual basis for infectious disease and its management and set the stage for development of modern anti-infective therapy, one of the major medical advances of the 20th century.
Modern anti-infective therapy was started by Paul Ehrlich’s group systematically making and testing several series of related compounds in the 1920s to treat syphilis. Domagk and his group developed sulfonamides using the same systematic methods in the 1930s. Fleming saw the zones of inhibition of bacterial growth around molds in a culture plate and recognized that the mold was secreting an anti-bacterial substance. But it took another 10 years before Chain and Florey tested this secretion in infected mice.
The reason for the delay of a decade is that it was known that germicides did more damage to tissue than to bacteria. It was assumed that the secretion of the Penicillium was also a germicide. This error in automatically considering penicillin a germicide delayed its development for 10 years. This delay in developing penicillin supports the adage that it is better not to know something than to know something that is wrong.
The papers selected for this book in the Pharmacotherapy Revisited series are my personal choices for “the papers that were seminal in the development of antimicrobial therapy”. Either the first paper describing a discovery or use of a substance or the paper describing a new way of thinking about an antimicrobial topic are what I selected. All papers but one are anti-microbial. One is anti-parasitic to illustrate that the same systematic way that antimicrobials were discovered applied to anti-parasitic drugs as well. If fact, this systematic approach to drug discovery and development started by Ehrlich in the 1920s is the model for most of 20th century drug discovery and development for all of medicine.
Marcus M. Reidenberg
Weill Cornell Medical College
New York City, United States of America
Documento entero | ||
Documento entero | Marcus M. Reidenberg | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
Capítulos | ||
Acknowledgements | [wpdm id=1233 type=”btn”] | |
Introduction | Marcus M. Reidenberg | [wpdm id=1234 type=”btn”] |
Index | [wpdm id=1235 type=”btn”] | |
1. Cod liver oil and tuberculosis | M. Green | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
2. Ehrlich-Hata remedy for syphilis | JG. Fitzgerald | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
3. Chemotherapie der bakteriellen Infektionen | G. Domagk | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
4. Treatment with Prontosil of puerperal infections due to haemolytic streptococci | L. Colebrook / M. Kenny | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
5. Para-aminobenzenesulfonamide: Absorption and excretion: method of determination in urine and blood | EK. Marshall Jr / K. Emerson Jr / WC. Cutting | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
6. On the antibacterial action of cultures of a Penicillium, with special reference to their use in the isolation of B. influenzae | A. Fleming | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
7. Penicillin as a chemotherapeutic agent | E. Chain / HW. Florey / AD. Gardner / NG. Heatley / MA. Jennings / J. Orr-Ewing et al. | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
8. Penicillin treatment of early syphilis – A preliminary report | JF. Mahoney / RC. Arnold / AD. Harris | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
9. Streptomycin, a substance exhibiting antibiotic activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria | A. Schatz / E. Bugie / SA. Waksman | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
10. The treatment of meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae with streptomycin; a report of nine cases | L. Weinstein | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
11. Streptomycin treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis | Medical Research Council | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
12. The promin treatment of leprosy. A progress report | GH. Faget / RC. Pogge / FA. Johansen / JF. Dinan / BM. Prejean / CG. Eccles | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
13. IDU therapy of herpes simplex | HE. Kaufman / AB. Nesburn / ED. Maloney | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
14. Antiviral activity of 1-adamantanamine (amantadine) | WL. Davies / RR. Grunert / RF. Haff / JW. McGahen / EM. Neumayer / M. Paulshock et al. | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
15. Inhibition of respiratory virus infection by locally applied interferon | TC. Merigan / SE. Reed / TS. Hall / DAJ. Tyrrell | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
16. The efficacy of azidothymidine (AZT) in the treatment of patients with AIDS and AIDS-related complex | MA. Fischl / DD. Richman / MH. Grieco / MS. Gottlieb / PA. Volberding / OL. Laskin et al. | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
17. The rapid cure of amoebic dysentery and hepatitis by hypodermic injections of soluble salts of emetine | L. Rogers | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
18. Fungicidin, an antibiotic produced by a soil actinomycete | EL. Hazen / R. Brown | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
19. Activity of a new antimalarial agent, chloroquine (SN 7618): Statement approved by the Board for Coordination of Malarial Studies | RF. Loeb / WM. Clark / GR. Coatney / LT. Coggeshall / FR. Dieuaide / AR. Dochez et al. | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
20. Experimental chemotherapy of filariasis. III. Effect of 1-diethylcarbamyl-4-methylpiperazine hydrochloride against naturally acquired filarial infections in cotton rats and dogs | RI. Hewitt / S. Kushner / HW. Stewart / E. White / WS. Wallace / Y. SubbaRow | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
21. Drug-related blood dyscrasias | CM. Huguley / AJ. Erslev / DE. Bergsagel | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
22. Studies in the home treatment of streptococcal disease. I. Failure of patients to take penicillin by mouth as prescribed | DN. Mohler / DG. Wallin / EG. Dreyfus | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
23. Increased synthesis of p-aminobenzoic acid associated with the development of sulfonamide resistance in Staphylococcus aureus | M. Landy / NW. Larkum / EJ. Oswald / F. Streightoff | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
24. Studies on antibiotic synergism and antagonism; the interference of chloramphenicol with the action of penicillin | E. Jawetz / JB. Gunnison / RS. Speck / VR. Coleman | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
25. Treatment of pneumococcic meningitis with penicillin compared with penicillin plus aureomycin; studies including observations on an apparent antagonism between penicillin and aureomycin | MH. Lepper / HF. Dowling | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
26. Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic parameters: rationale for antibacterial dosing of mice and men | WA. Craig | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |
27. Prediction of creatinine clearance from serum creatinine | DW. Cockcroft / MH. Gault | [wpdm type=”btn3″] |