Word: acth
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...exert a synergistic effect on patients, i.e., produce greater benefit than the sum of each used separately. But 1) the evidence for super-aspirin's synergistic effect is questionable; 2) aspirin can be taken safely by almost any patient, while hormones are suitable only for some patients. Cortisone, ACTH, prednisone and other hormones sometimes produce such undesirable side effects as peptic ulcers, edema, mental disturbances and high blood pressure...
...items added since the last (1947) edition, most are complex organic substances like the hormones ACTH, cortisone, hydrocortisone, aldosterone, prednisone; peace-of-mind preparations such as Rauwolfia derivatives and chlorpromazine; assorted sedatives for a restless age; and a slew of new antibiotics. Penicillin in 137 varieties rates 28 pages. Medicinal radioisotopes, included for the first time, take four pages. Anti-histaminics, just becoming popular in 1947, have multiplied like rabbits...
Last week the University of California announced that a team led by China-born Dr. C. H. Li has determined the complete molecular structure of ACTH. It turns out to be a straight chain of 39 amino acids arranged in a definite order. After satisfying themselves about the position of each link in the chain, Dr. Li and his teammates broke the chain in two, separating 28 of the links from the remaining eleven. The larger section proved to have all the desirable biological effects of the whole natural molecule. Better still, it lacks certain bad side effects...
...exciting possibility is that the chain can be broken into even smaller sections and that one of them will do the wondrous job of natural ACTH. Other fragments may have other desirable medical effects, and the fragments may be small enough to be synthesized cheaply...
None of this is likely to happen for a considerable time. Work with ACTH is slow, difficult and expensive because of the scarcity of the material. Financed by the U.S. Public Health Service, Eli Lilly Laboratories and the Lasker Foundation, Dr. Li's project took five years, cost $250,000 and consumed the pituitary glands of 360,000 sheep. Many more sheep will have to be dissected before a simplified form of ACTH becomes a standard item on the druggists' shelves...