ABSTRACT
This paper provides a detailed historical assessment of the origin and developmental progress of the concept of wound healing and its attempted acceleration from its start in the beginning of the 20th century to approximately 1960. Emphasis is placed on the development of cell culture in the assessment of wound healing and in attempts to validate experimental findings via clinical research. Of particular interest were the observations that wound healing could be accelerated in the 30-50% range with the dose response displaying biphasic characteristics consistent with the hormesis dose-response model. Such findings set the stage for the hormetic dose-response revolution that is occurring within the biological and biomedical sciences, including wound healing, whereby considerable research now supports the capacity for endogenous and exogenous agents to accelerate the process of wound healing and its functional performance.
Subject(s)
Cells, Cultured/pathology , Fibroblasts/pathology , Skin/pathology , Tissue Extracts , Wound Healing , Animals , Cartilage/pathology , Fibroblasts/drug effects , Heart , History, 20th Century , Hormesis , Humans , Models, Biological , Models, Theoretical , Skin/injuries , Sulfhydryl Compounds/pharmacology , Tissue Extracts/history , Wound Healing/drug effectsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In 1889, Brown-Séquard, aged 72, reported dramatic rejuvenating effects after self-administering testicular extracts of dogs and guinea-pigs. His report resulted in widespread use of testicular extracts throughout Europe and North America for several decades. More recently, the male ageing process has been attributed to partial androgen deficiency, or "andropause", and testosterone treatment is claimed to improve well-being in middle-aged and elderly men. DESIGN: We prepared extracts from five dog testes using Brown-Séquard's methods and assayed testosterone concentrations. RESULTS: Testosterone concentrations were four orders of magnitude less than that required for a biological effect. CONCLUSIONS: Our study illustrates the marked placebo response that can be evoked by androgen treatment. It cautions against the empirical use of testosterone treatment for older men, unless a diagnosis of hypogonadism has been substantiated.
Subject(s)
Aging/drug effects , Testosterone/administration & dosage , Aged , Animals , Dogs , France , Guinea Pigs , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Injections , Male , Middle Aged , Placebo Effect , Testis , Testosterone/analysis , Testosterone/history , Tissue Extracts/chemistry , Tissue Extracts/historySubject(s)
Freund's Adjuvant/history , Nephrotic Syndrome/history , Animals , Antigen-Antibody Reactions , Disease Models, Animal , History, 20th Century , Immunohistochemistry/history , Nephrotic Syndrome/chemically induced , Nephrotic Syndrome/immunology , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Tissue Extracts/administration & dosage , Tissue Extracts/historyABSTRACT
In 1914 "Lipamin" and "Luteolipoid", two extracts of corpus luteum, were developed at the University Gynaecological Hospital in Erlangen, Bavaria. The process of their preparation, protected by patents, was exploited soon after that by Ciba, Basel, who named their products Agomensin and Sistomensin. The history of their development, their effects in animal experiments, as well as their early therapeutical application to women are reported. Special reference is made to the patent specifications and to the lectures held at meetings of the Bavarian Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.
