Serguei Metalnikov – 1920s – Introducing the Concept of Immune Conditioning
Historical Perspectives Any student of physiology is thoroughly familiar with Pavlov’s original work on classical conditioning, which was carried out in the 1900’s and established the concept of associative learning. Less well-known, however, are the implications this paradigm had for the study of neuro-immune interactions, a direction first notably pursued by Serguei Metalnikov at the […]
Philip Hench – Cortisone and Rheumatoid Arthritis, 1948
Historical Perspectives Corticosteroids, despite their well-recognized adverse effects, are an essential component in the treatment of many types of autoimmune and other inflammatory conditions. The discovery of cortisone more than sixty years ago inspired a wealth of endocrinologic and immunologic research and indelibly linked, often with a “love-hate” aspect, the study of hormones to the […]
Hans Selye and the Birth of the Stress Concept
Historical Perspectives In 1936 a half page report appeared in Nature magazine under the title “A syndrome produced by diverse nocuous agents,” which was authored by Hans Selye of McGill University, Montreal, Canada [1]. The essence of this report was that rats exposed to a variety of nocuous or toxic agents (e.g. cold, surgery, forced […]
The Discovery of Interferon, the First Cytokine, by Alick Isaacs and Jean Lindenmann in 1957
Historical Perspectives I first met Alick Isaacs in November, 1955. He immediately struck me as an extremely intelligent and very lively person; though little did I know that those next few years would lead to a major discovery – that of interferon – and also that working with him was going to set the course […]
Andor Szentivanyi and the Beta Adrenergic Theory of Allergy and Asthma
Historical Perspectives Fifty six years ago Andor Szentivanyi and colleagues were the first to document with exact scientific methodology in animal experiments that the nervous system regulates anaphylactic reactions and antibody production. At that time Szentivanyi was a resident at the Medical School of Debrecen in Hungary. He observed that adrenaline did not inhibit the […]
