ABSTRACT
The appearance of antibiotic drugs revolutionized the possibilities for treatment of diseases with high mortality such as pneumonia, sepsis, plaque, diphtheria, tetanus, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis. Today fewer than 1% of mortalities in high income countries are caused by diseases caused by bacteria. However, it should be recalled that the antibiotics were introduced in parallel with sanitation including sewerage, piped drinking water, high standard of living and improved understanding of the connection between food and health. Development of salvarsan, sulfonamides, and ß-lactams into efficient drugs is described. The effects on life expectancy and life quality of these new drugs are indicated.
Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents/chemistry , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Bacterial Infections/drug therapy , Drug Development , Drug Discovery , Arsphenamine/pharmacology , Humans , Quality of Life , Sulfonamides/pharmacology , beta-Lactams/pharmacologyABSTRACT
Syphilis is not a deadly disease anymore, thanks to antibiotics. But before their discovery, Paul Ehrlich presented the drug Salvarsan. Its efficacy was doubted and there were many disputes about it. The Berlin physician Heinrich Dreuw had been the most influential opponent-contemporaries and historians described him as being an antisemitic quack, but maybe they were wrong.
Subject(s)
Antitreponemal Agents/history , Arsphenamine/history , Syphilis/drug therapy , Antitreponemal Agents/therapeutic use , Arsphenamine/therapeutic use , Germany , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Male , Physicians , Syphilis/historySubject(s)
Arsphenamine , Syphilis , Antitreponemal Agents/history , Antitreponemal Agents/therapeutic use , Arsphenamine/history , Arsphenamine/pharmacology , Arsphenamine/therapeutic use , Germany , History, 18th Century , History, 19th Century , Humans , Japan , Sweden , Syphilis/drug therapy , Syphilis/historyABSTRACT
In this article, we present a historical revision of syphilis treatment since the end of the XV century up until the current days. For centuries, it was understood that syphilis had been brought to Spain by Columbus after coming back from America. It became an epidemic soon after. Later on, it was spread all over Europe. The chronologic and geographic origin of this illness have been debated in recent years, however, there has been no agreement about it as yet. Mercury was the main used therapy for four and a half centuries, until the discovery of penicillin in 1943. This discovery changed the therapeutic approach to syphilis since then. Other remedies were used during this period. Guaiacum was one of them, but it was dismissed in the mid-sixteenth century. Iodides were also used, especially in the tertiary symptoms of the disease. The discovery of arsphenamine (Salvarsan) at the beginning of the XX century, used by itself at its onset and associated to mercury or bismuth later on, was a significant therapeutic contribution. Bismuth was in itself a great therapeutic asset. It displaced the use of mercury in an important way until 1943, when the appearance of penicillin became the treatment of choice.
Subject(s)
Antitreponemal Agents/history , Antitreponemal Agents/therapeutic use , Syphilis/history , Syphilis/therapy , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Arsphenamine/therapeutic use , Bismuth/therapeutic use , History, 15th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Mercury Compounds/therapeutic use , Spain , Syphilis/drug therapy , Syphilis/epidemiologySubject(s)
Arsphenamine/history , Arsphenamine/pharmacology , Drug Resistance, Microbial/drug effects , Syphilis/drug therapy , Syphilis/history , Anti-Bacterial Agents/biosynthesis , Anti-Bacterial Agents/chemical synthesis , Anti-Bacterial Agents/history , Antitreponemal Agents/chemistry , Antitreponemal Agents/history , Antitreponemal Agents/pharmacology , Arsphenamine/chemistry , History, 20th Century , Humans , Penicillins/history , Penicillins/therapeutic useABSTRACT
Without question one of the most important medicinal chemistry discoveries of the 20th century was made by Paul Ehrlich and his colleagues, chemist, Alfred Bertheim and bacteriologist, Sahachiro Hata. They ushered in the age of targeted chemotherapy in 1910 with the discovery of the anti-syphilitic organic arsenic agent, arsphenamine or Salvarsan (also known as 606). It was the clinical compound of choice for treating syphilis until penicillin and other antibiotics were introduced clinically in the 1940s. Yet now, more than 100years after its discovery, the precise biochemical mechanism by which this compound eliminates the syphilis spirochete in vivo from humans and animals remains unknown. Other organic arsenic compounds such as melarsoprol and roxarson have been used to treat parasitic infections. More recently, arsenic trioxide has been shown effective in producing remissions and possibly cures in a high percentage of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia. However, the exact biochemical mechanism by which this clinical result is manifested remains to be determined. The purpose of this publication is to propose a possible mechanism, by which these apparently diverse arsenic compounds function to produce their clinical results and to suggest their potential for the treatment of infections caused by resistant organisms.
Subject(s)
Arsenic/therapeutic use , Arsenicals/therapeutic use , Drug Resistance, Bacterial , Animals , Arsenic Trioxide , Arsphenamine/chemistry , Haptens/chemistry , Humans , Inhibitory Concentration 50 , Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute/drug therapy , Lyme Disease/drug therapy , Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus , Models, Theoretical , Molecular Weight , Oxides/therapeutic use , Staphylococcal Infections/drug therapy , Syphilis/drug therapy , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The current study presents some aspects of syphilis in the Balkan Peninsula from the 19th century until the Interwar. Ever since the birth of modern Balkan States (Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and Serbia), urbanization, poverty and the frequent wars have been considered the major factors conducive to the spread of syphilis. The measures against sex work and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were taken in two aspects, one medical and the other legislative. In this period, numerous hospitals for venereal diseases were established in the Balkan countries. In line with the international diagnostic approach and therapeutic standards, laboratory examinations in these Balkan hospitals included spirochete examination, Wassermann reaction, precipitation reaction and cerebrospinal fluid examination. Despite the strict legislation and the adoption of relevant laws against illegal sex work, public health services were unable to curb the spread of syphilis. Medical and social factors such as poverty, citizen's ignorance of STDs, misguided medical perceptions, lack of sanitary control of prostitution and epidemiological studies, are highlighted in this study. These factors were the major causes that helped syphilis spread in the Balkan countries during the 19th and early 20th century. The value of these aspects as a historic paradigm is diachronic. Failure to comply with the laws and the dysfunction of public services during periods of war or socioeconomic crises are both factors facilitating the spread of STDs.
Subject(s)
Health Policy/history , Poverty/history , Sex Work/history , Syphilis/history , Urbanization/history , Antitreponemal Agents/history , Antitreponemal Agents/therapeutic use , Arsphenamine/history , Arsphenamine/therapeutic use , Balkan Peninsula/epidemiology , Bismuth/history , Bismuth/therapeutic use , Bosnia and Herzegovina/epidemiology , Bulgaria/epidemiology , Government Regulation/history , Greece/epidemiology , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Poverty/statistics & numerical data , Risk Factors , Serbia/epidemiology , Sex Work/legislation & jurisprudence , Sexually Transmitted Diseases/epidemiology , Sexually Transmitted Diseases/history , Syphilis/diagnosis , Syphilis/drug therapy , Syphilis/epidemiology , Turkey/epidemiology , WarfareSubject(s)
Ethanol/history , Ether/history , Arsphenamine/analogs & derivatives , Arsphenamine/history , Ethanol/administration & dosage , Ether/administration & dosage , Germany , History, 18th Century , Humans , Pharmaceutical Preparations/administration & dosage , Pharmaceutical Preparations/historySubject(s)
Antitreponemal Agents/therapeutic use , Arsphenamine/therapeutic use , Delivery of Health Care/history , Drug Discovery/history , Syphilis/drug therapy , Venereology/history , Antitreponemal Agents/isolation & purification , Arsphenamine/isolation & purification , Delivery of Health Care/standards , Health Policy/history , History, 20th Century , Humans , United KingdomSubject(s)
Antitreponemal Agents/therapeutic use , Arsphenamine/therapeutic use , Delivery of Health Care/history , Delivery of Health Care/methods , Syphilis/diagnosis , Syphilis/drug therapy , Venereology/history , Antitreponemal Agents/adverse effects , Arsphenamine/adverse effects , History, 20th Century , Humans , Public Health Administration/history , United KingdomABSTRACT
Infections have represented for a long time the leading cause of death in humans. During the 19th century, pneumonia, tuberculosis, diarrhea and diphtheria were considered the main causes of death in children and adults. Only in the late 19th century did it become possible to correlate the existence of microscopic pathogens with the development of various diseases. Within a few years the introduction of antiseptic procedures had begun to reduce mortality due to postsurgical infections. Sanitation and hygiene played a significant role in the reduction of the mortality due to several infectious diseases. The introduction of the first compounds with antimicrobial activity succeeded in conquering many diseases. In this review we analyzed, from a historical perspective, the development of antibiotics and the circumstances that led to their discovery. The first compound with antimicrobial activity was introduced in 1911 by Erlich. He focused his research activity on the discovery of a "magic bullet" to treat syphilis. Afterwards, Foley and colleagues brought penicillin to the forefront. Streptomycin represents the first drug discovered for the treatment of tuberculosis, and its development included the first use of clinical trials. Finally, with the development of cephalosporins, the introduction of new antimicrobial compounds with broad activity against gram-positive and also some gram-negative bacteria began.
Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents , Anti-Bacterial Agents/history , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Arsphenamine/history , Arsphenamine/therapeutic use , Cephalosporins/history , Cephalosporins/therapeutic use , Drug Discovery/history , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , Infections/drug therapy , Infections/history , Penicillins/history , Penicillins/therapeutic use , Streptomycin/history , Streptomycin/therapeutic use , Tuberculosis/drug therapy , Tuberculosis/historySubject(s)
Government Regulation/history , Legislation, Drug/history , Licensure/history , Patents as Topic , Anesthetics, Local/economics , Anesthetics, Local/history , Anesthetics, Local/supply & distribution , Antitreponemal Agents/economics , Antitreponemal Agents/history , Antitreponemal Agents/supply & distribution , Arsphenamine/economics , Arsphenamine/history , Arsphenamine/supply & distribution , Germany , History, 20th Century , Legislation, Drug/economics , Licensure/legislation & jurisprudence , Procaine/economics , Procaine/history , Procaine/supply & distribution , United States , United States Federal Trade Commission/history , World War ISubject(s)
Antitreponemal Agents/history , Arsphenamine/history , Syphilis Serodiagnosis/history , Syphilis/history , Tabes Dorsalis/history , Adult , Child , Female , History, 20th Century , Humans , Infant , Male , Pregnancy , SwitzerlandABSTRACT
The invention of Salvarsan (Triaminotrihydroxy-arsenobenzol) in 1910 meant a revolution in the medical treatment. Chemotherapy was born and its founder Paul Ehrlich is still famous for his experimental work. In medical history mostly successes, not widespread discussions about misuse or failing of the new drug were. The Berlin doctor Heinrich Dreuw was a key figure in these debates. He and his colleagues presented evidence that Salvarsan was not an effective drug and just an expensive placebo, which helped pharmaceutical trusts earning more money. Dreuw even attacked state medical branches for infringement against patients. At last doubts about Salvarsan never disappeared.