Edwin B. Astwood

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Edwin B. Astwood (born December 19, 1909 in Hamilton , Bermuda , † February 17, 1976 ibid) was an American endocrinologist at Tufts University in Medford , Massachusetts . He is best known for developing anti- thyroid drugs, drugs used to treat hyperthyroidism .

Live and act

Astwood grew up in Bermuda. He attended college in Ohio and graduated in medicine at the College of Medical Evangelists at Loma Linda University ( California ) and McGill University ( Montreal , Canada ) in 1934 with the MD from. As a resident, Astwood worked with Hans Selye at the Royal Victoria Hospital Montreal before he moved to the pathology department of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore , Maryland . In 1937 he received a Rockefeller Fellowship to work at Harvard University with Frederick L. Hisaw (1891-1972) in endocrinology . In 1939 Astwood received a Ph.D. and went back to Johns Hopkins University to work in gynecology there. Together with Georgeanna Seegar Jones (1912-2005) he developed a new method to measure pregnanediol in urine, and he described luteotropin in rats. Soma Weiss brought Astwood back to Boston, where he worked at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and received a professorship (Assistant Professor) with Otto Krayer at Harvard Medical School .

At Harvard, Astwood made important contributions to the physiology and pathophysiology of the thyroid gland. Based on the observation that sulfaguanidine and phenylthiourea caused goiter in test animals , Astwood found that thionamides , sulfonamides and aniline derivatives inhibit the synthesis of thyroid hormones by interfering with the organ binding of iodine . Thiocyanates and perchlorates, on the other hand, inhibit the pump that pumps iodine against a concentration gradient into the thyroid cell (known today as sodium iodide symporter ). Astwood transferred his findings in the treatment of Patioenten with hyperthyroidism and found that propylthiouracil had the lowest rate of side effects among the substances tested. Astwood also conducted studies with radioactive iodine to quantify iodine uptake in the thyroid. So he was able to determine that the inhibition of iodine uptake by thiamazole was 100 times stronger than that by propylthiouracil. Astwood's investigations are still the basis for function tests of the thyroid gland (such as the perchlorate depletion test ) and the pituitary gland .

Astwood moved to Tufts University Medical School (also in Boston) as a professor of internal medicine in 1945 , where he was also able to work as a senior physician at the New England Medical Center Hospital, as well as at the JH Pratt Diagnostic Hospital and the Boston Dispensary , and was able to set up a large endocrinological research laboratory. In 1952 he received a full professorship at Tufts University. Here Astwood dealt further with the pituitary-thyroid axis (known today as the thyroid control circuit ) and its importance for the growth of the thyroid gland and re-established the therapy of goiter with thyroid hormones. Further work by Astwood dealt with adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), the methods of extracting it from bovine pituitary gland and its biochemical and physical properties. In addition, he dealt with the effects of ACTH and Growth Hormone (GH, Somatropin ) on lipid metabolism .

In 1973 Astwood retired , but continued to work as a doctor. Astwood had been married to Sara (Sally) Merritt since 1937. The couple had two children.

Awards (selection)

The Endocrine Society has been presenting the Edwin B. Astwood Award Lecture since 1977 .

literature

  • RO Greep, MA Greer: Edwin Bennett Astwood: December 29, 1909 - February 17, 1976. In: Biographical memoirs. National Academy of Sciences (US). Vol. 55, 1985, pp. 3-42, PMID 11616082 . (PDF, 2.0 MB)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter A. (PDF; 945 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Accessed April 7, 2018 .
  2. ^ Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award 1954 Winners at the Lasker Foundation (laskerfoundation.org); Retrieved June 24, 2012
  3. ^ Edwin B. Astwood Award Lecture - Endocrine Society. In: endocrine.org. December 31, 2013, accessed April 7, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Astwood, Edwin B.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Astwood, Edwin; Astwood, Edwin Bennett; Astwood, Ted
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American endocrinologist
DATE OF BIRTH December 19, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamilton , Bermuda
DATE OF DEATH 17th February 1976
Place of death Hamilton , Bermuda