Wolfgang Forth

Wolfgang Forth (born August 24, 1932 in Mannheim ; † April 12, 2009 in Munich ) was a German pharmacologist and toxicologist .

Life

Forth was a son of the choir director, later administrative director at the Mannheim Rosengarten , Hans Kurt Forth and his wife Mathilde nee. Staubitz. He studied in Heidelberg medicine and was there in 1958 with Hans Haas (* 1907), head of the Pharmacology Laboratory of Knoll AG , supervised dissertation on the central nervous system effects of sympathomimetic Dr. med. PhD. In 1959 he married Dagmar Charlotte von Blomberg, with whom he had two daughters and two sons. From 1960 to 1974 he worked with Walter Rummel at the Pharmacological Institute of the Saarland University in Homburg , where he completed his habilitation in pharmacology and toxicology in 1967 with a study on the absorption of iron from the intestine . In 1974 he was appointed to the Chair of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Ruhr University Bochum as successor to Otto Kraupp , in 1980 he was appointed to the Chair of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich as the successor to Manfred Kiese (1910-1983) . In 2000 he retired.

plant

Iron absorption became one of Forth's most important issues. In 1973 he realized with Rummel that in a congenital form of sideroblastic anemia, a protein in the cells of the intestinal mucosa was missing or malfunctioning, which was necessary to transport the iron from the cells into the blood. In the same year, the two researchers presented the topic in a large overview. About twenty-five years later, the intestinal mucosal protein was identified as hephestine .

According to bibliometric counting, the original work by Forth, which was most highly regarded, came from his second main area of ​​research, the pharmacology of laxatives . Rummel was involved again. It was about the laxative effects of bile acids . The authors conclude: “It is therefore assumed that an inhibition of the sodium pump, the driving force for water absorption, and the stimulation of secretion in the lower intestinal sections by bile acids are causally related to their laxative effect. The anti-resorptive and secretion-promoting effect of the bile acids, which prevents excessive thickening of the faeces, may also have a physiological significance. ”Textbooks also say it to this day:“ Antiresorptive and secretagogue laxatives ”such as bile acids, castor oil , bisacodyl (Dulcolax) ^® ) and senna leaves are “substances that inhibit the resorption of sodium and thus also that of water for osmotic reasons, i. H. have an antiresorptive effect. They can also cause an influx of fluid and Na ⁺ , Cl ^- , K ⁺ and Ca ²⁺ into the intestinal lumen, i.e. H. act as a secretagogue. "

From iron metabolism , Forth came to the metabolism and toxicity of other metals such as cadmium , copper , mercury , zinc , aluminum and arsenic , the interaction of these metals with one another and with iron, and the toxicity of mercury alloys and ceramic materials in dentistry.

It was characteristic of Forth to strive to pass on his science in a profitable way. For several years he was a specialist editor in Deutsches Ärzteblatt . There he published 92 articles from 1984, the beginning of the electronic recording of the journal, until his death, more than any of his pharmacological colleagues. This includes statements on dental amalgam fillings, damage caused by aluminum-containing antacids and damage caused by heavy metals in homeopathic medicines . He also commented on the technical history and current events with toxicological implications such as the death of Uwe Barschel . His last article in the Ärzteblatt dealt with the pharmacological aspects of the consumption of beverages containing caffeine .

The same endeavor resulted in the publication - together with Rummel and the toxicologist Dietrich Henschler - of a new textbook “General and Systematic Pharmacology and Toxicology” in 1975 , the 10th edition of which is published today, 2013, by others.

At Forth's instigation, the Munich Institute was renamed the Walther Straub Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology in 1985 in memory of Walther Straub , who headed it from 1924 until his death in 1944 .

student

The following scientists have completed their habilitation in pharmacology and toxicology at Forth in Munich:

• Wolfgang Kromer (* 1943, habilitation 1981), later pharmacologist at the Byk Gulden company in Constance
• Ladislaus Szinicz (* 1943, habilitation 1983), later head of the Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Bundeswehr
• Burckhard Fichtl (* 1944, habilitation 1984), later professor at the Munich Institute
• Siegfried G. Schäfer (* 1948, habilitation 1986), later head of product development at Solvay Pharmaceuticals in Hanover , co-editor of a textbook on toxicology
• Gerhard Strugala (* 1950, Habilitation 1986), later director at Apogepha Arzneimittel GmbH
• Elmar Richter (* 1945, habilitation 1988), later professor at the Munich Institute
• Klaus-Gustav Eckert (* 1951, habilitation 1989)
• Ines Golly (* 1952, habilitation 1989), later pharmacologist at Hermes Arzneimittel in Großhesselohe
• Bernd Elsenhans (* 1943, habilitation 1990), later professor at the Munich Institute
• Klaus-Otto Schümann (* 1947, habilitation 1993), later professor at the Weihenstephan Science Center for Nutrition, Land Use and Environment at the Technical University of Munich
• Helmut Kreppel (* 1953, habilitation 1993), later with the medical office of the Bundeswehr
• Ekkehard Haen (* 1953, habilitation 1993), later head of the clinical pharmacology department of the Psychiatric Clinic at the University of Regensburg
• Franz-Xaver Reichl (* 1953, Habilitation 1994), later professor at the Munich Institute, editor of a pocket atlas of toxicology , to which other staff at the institute also contributed.
• Gerhard Scherer (* 1949, habilitation 1995)
• Johannes Schulze (* 1955, habilitation 1996)
• Harald Mückter (* 1952, habilitation 1997)
• Bernhard Liebl (* 1958, habilitation 1998), later division manager at the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety

Individual evidence

1. ↑ H. Haas, W. Forth: A contribution to the analysis of the central excitatory component of some sympathomimetic amines. In: Arzneimittel-Forschung 6, 1956, pp. 436-445.
2. ^ Peter Eyer: Walther Straub Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. In: Athineos Philippu (Ed.): History and work of the pharmacological, clinical-pharmacological and toxicological institutes in German-speaking countries. Berenkamp-Verlag, Innsbruck 2004, ISBN 3-85093-180-3 , pp. 518-531.
3. ^ Wolfgang Forth on the website of the Walther Straub Institute in Munich. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
4. ↑ Helmut Huebers, Eiko Huebers, Wolfgang Forth, Walter Rummel: Iron absorption and iron-binding proteins in intestinal mucosa of mice with sex-linked anemia. In: Hoppe-Seyler's Journal for Physiological Chemistry . 1973; 354, pp. 1156-1158.
5. ^ W. Forth, W. Rummel: Iron absorption. In: Physiological Reviews. 53, 1973, pp. 724-792.
6. ↑ Manuela Santos, Maria de Sousa, JJM Marx: Regulation of intracellular iron levels in iron-acceptor and iron-donor cells . In: Transfusion Science . tape 23 , 2000, pp. 225-235 , doi : 10.1016 / S0955-3886 (00) 00109-0 .
7. ↑ W. Forth, W. Rummel, H. Glasner: For the absorption-inhibiting effect of bile acids . In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archive for experimental pathology and pharmacology . tape 254 , 1966, pp. 364-380 , doi : 10.1007 / BF00538807 .
8. ↑ H. Kilbinger: Pharmaceuticals for influencing the functions of the stomach, small and large intestines. In: K. Aktories , U. Förstermann , F. Hofmann , K. Starke (eds.): General and special pharmacology and toxicology. 10th edition. Elsevier, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-437-42522-6 , pp. 547-577.
9. ↑ L. Szinicz, W. Forth: Effect of As ₂ O ₃ on gluconeogenesis . In: Archives of Toxicology . tape 61 , 1988, pp. 444-449 , doi : 10.1007 / BF00293690 .
10. ↑ B. Elsenhans, G. Schmolke, K. Kolb, J. Stokes, W. Forth: Metal-metal interactions among dietary toxic and essential trace metals in the rat . In: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety . tape 14 , 1987, pp. 275-287 , doi : 10.1016 / 0147-6513 (87) 90071-6 .
11. ^ Siegfried G. Schäfer, Wolfgang Forth: Effect of acute and chronic exposure to cadmium on the retention of itron in rats . In: Journal of Nutrition . tape 114 , 1984, pp. 1889-1896 , PMID 6491754 .
12. ^ FX Reichl, UI Walther, J. Durner, K. Kehe, R. Hickel, KH Kunzelmann, W. Spahl, WR Hume, H. Benschopf, W. Forth: Cytotoxicity of dental composite components and mercury compounds in lung cells . In: Dental Materials . tape 17 , 2001, p. 95-101 , doi : 10.1016 / S0109-5641 (00) 00029-4 .
13. ↑ Wolfgang Forth: Mercury pollution from amalgam fillings? In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt. 87, 1990, pp. A-472-473.
14. ↑ Wolfgang Forth: Aluminum intoxication by antacids? In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt. 84, 1987, pp. 348-349.
15. ↑ Wolfgang Forth: Unclear concentration information from the manufacturer: Potentially toxic heavy metals as therapeutic agents in homeopathy. In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt. 93, 1996, pp. A-2318-2319.
16. ↑ Wolfgang Forth: Walther Straub and the phosphorus - a lesson from politics and science. In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt. 91, 1994, pp. A-3567-3571.
17. ^ Wolfgang Forth: The suicide in Geneva. In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt 85, 1988, p. A-133.
18. ↑ Wolfgang Forth, Olaf Adam: Caffeine: Dealing with a stimulant that can also develop pharmacological effects. In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt. 98, 2001, pp. A-2816-2818.
19. ↑ K. Aktories, U. Förstermann, F. Hofmann, K. Starke (eds.): General and special pharmacology and toxicology. 10th edition. Elsevier, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-437-42522-6 .
20. ↑ Hans Marquardt, Siegfried G. Schäfer: Textbook of Toxicology. 2nd Edition. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart , 2004, ISBN 3-8047-1777-2 .
21. ^ Franz-Xaver Reichl: Pocket Atlas Toxicology. 3. Edition. Thieme Publishing Group , Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-13-108973-1 .