The Penicillin saga a different tale: Difference between revisions

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After 1850, thanks to the progress of chemistry, the chemotherapy concept for the treatment of infectious diseases began to assert itself. Consequently, some effective chemical compounds were synthesized (for example sodium arsenylate by Antoine Béchamp in 1859 and used, at that time, against sleeping sickness and other trypanosomiasis. It was later abandoned due to its remarkable toxicity). However, thanks to Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895), in the seventies and eighties of the nineteenth century, the interest in substances of natural origin returned. Pasteur in fact highlighted both the inhibiting action of molds on the development of some bacteria and the antagonism between different bacteria. These observations were taken up by Arnaldo Cantani (1837 - 1893), who tried, with poor results, to apply Pasteur’s concept, developing bacteriotherapy (fight against pathogenic bacteria with other harmless bacteria) to treat tuberculosis.
After 1850, thanks to the progress of chemistry, the chemotherapy concept for the treatment of infectious diseases began to assert itself. Consequently, some effective chemical compounds were synthesized (for example sodium arsenylate by Antoine Béchamp in 1859 and used, at that time, against sleeping sickness and other trypanosomiasis. It was later abandoned due to its remarkable toxicity). However, thanks to Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895), in the seventies and eighties of the nineteenth century, the interest in substances of natural origin returned. Pasteur in fact highlighted both the inhibiting action of molds on the development of some bacteria and the antagonism between different bacteria. These observations were taken up by Arnaldo Cantani (1837 - 1893), who tried, with poor results, to apply Pasteur’s concept, developing bacteriotherapy (fight against pathogenic bacteria with other harmless bacteria) to treat tuberculosis.


==Declarations==
===Conflict of Interest===
The Author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
==References==
<ol class="references">
<li>Mohr, K.I.: History of Antibiotics Research. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 398, 237-272 (2016). doi: 10.1007/82_2016_499</li>
<li>Shama, G.: La Moisissure et la Bactérie: Deconstructing the fable of the discovery of penicillin by Ernest Duchesne. Endeavour 40(3), 188-200 (2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.endeavour.2016.07.005</li>
<li>De Giaxa, F.: The Pellagra [La Pellagra]. In: Casagrandi O. (Edt.), Trattato italiano di Igiene, vol. 6, parte sesta, fasc. I, UTET, Torino (1927)</li>
<li>Gosio, B.: Contribution to the etiology of pellagra. Chemical and bacteriological research on maize alterations [Contributo all’etiologia della pellagra. Ricerche chimiche e batteriologiche sulle alterazioni del mais]. G. R. Accad. Med. Torino, 61, 484-487 (1893)</li>
<li>Gosio, B.: Bacteriological and chemical research on corn alterations - Contribution to the etiology of Pellagra (Memory 2a) [Ricerche batteriologiche e chimiche sulle alterazioni del mais - Contributo all’etiologia della Pellagra (Memoria 2a)]. Rivista d’Igiene e Sanità pubblica Anno VII, n. 21, 825-868 (1896)</li>
<li>Gosio, B., Ferrati, E.: On the physiological action of corn poisons invaded by some ifomycetes - Contribution to the etiology of Pellagra (Memory 3a) [Sull’azione fisiologica dei veleni del mais invaso da alcuni ifomiceti - Contributo all’etiologia della Pellagra (Memoria 3a)]. Rivista d’Igiene e Sanità pubblica, Anno VII, n. 24, 961-981 (1896)</li>
<li>Laskin, A.I., Bennett, J.W., Gadd, G.M.: Advances in Applied Microbiology, 1st Edition, Vol. 51. Gulf Professional Publishing, p. 236 (2001)</li>
<li>Kitchin, J.E., Pomeranz, M.K., Pak, G., Washenik, K., Shupack, J.L.: Rediscovering mycophenolic acid: A review of its mechanism, side effects, and potential uses. J Am Acad Dermatol, 37(3 Pt 1), 445-9 (1997). doi: 10.1016/s0190-9622(97)70147-6.</li>
<li>Anderson, H.A., Bracewell, J.M., Fraser, A.R., Jones, D., Robertson, G.W., Russell, J.D.: 5-Hydroxymaltol and mycophenolic acid, secondary metabolites from Penicillium echinulatum. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 91(4), 649-651 (1988) https://doi.org/10.1016/S0007-1536(88)80040-8</li>
<li>Florey, H.W., Gilliver, K., Jennings, M.A., Sanders, A.G.: Mycophenolic acid. An antibiotic from Penicillium brevicompactum Dierckx. The Lancet 1(6385), 46-9 (1946). doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(46)90242-5</li>
<li>Tiberio, V.: On the extracts of some molds [Sugli estratti di alcune muffe]. Annali di Igiene sperimentale, 2nd series, 5, 91-103 (1895)</li>
<li>Benigno, P.: A forerunner of antibiotic research [Un precursore delle ricerche sugli antibiotici]. Minerva Medica, 37, II (1946)</li>
<li>Duchesne, E.: Contribution to the study of vital competition in microorganisms: antagonism between molds and microbes [Contribution à l'étude de la concurrence vitale chezles micro-organismes: antagonisme entre les moisissures et les microbes]. Lyon, France: Alexandre Rey, (1897)</li>
<li>Schaefer, B.: Natural Products in the Chemical Industry. Springer. p. 231 (2015). doi:10.1007/978-3-642-54461-3. ISBN 9783642544613.</li>
<li>Fierro, F., Vaca, I., Castillo, N.I., García-Rico, R.O., Chávez, R.: Penicillium chrysogenum, a Vintage Model with a Cutting-Edge Profile in Biotechnology. Microorganisms, 10(3), 573 (2022). doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10030573</li>
<li>Levy, S.B.: The Antibiotic Paradox: How the Misuse of Antibiotics Destroys Their Curative Powers (2nd Edn). International Microbiology 5(3) (2002) doi: 10.1007/s10123-002-0082-z</li>
<li>Pfizer Inc. 1900-1950. Exploring Our History. Pfizer Inc. 2009. Retrieved November 2020</li>
<li>Clarke, H.T., Johnson, J.R., Robinson, R.: Chemistry of Penicillin. I. Brief History of the Chemical Study of Penicillin. Princeton University Press p. 6. (1949) doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400874910-002</li>
<li>Baxter, J.P.: Scientists Against Time. Atlantic‐Little, Brown and Company, Boston, p. 351(1947). https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.3730310530</li>
<li>Florey, H.W., Abraham, P.: The Work on Penicillin at Oxford. J Hist Med Allied Sci 6(3), 302-17 (1951). doi: 10.1093/jhmas/vi.summer.302</li>
<li>Ercoli, N.: Dosage problems in penillin therapy [Des problèmes de dosage en pénicillinothérapie]. Schweiz Med Wochenschrift 79(17), 378-382 (1949) PMID: 18131012</li>
<li>Sheehan, J.C., Buhle, E.L., Corey, E.J., Laubach, G.D., Ryan J.J.: The total synthesis of a 5-phenyl penicillin: methyl 5-phenyl-(2-carbomethoxyethyl)-penicillinate. J.Am.Chem.Soc. 72(8), 3828-3829 (1950). https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01164a534</li>
</ol>


[[Category:Open Access]]
[[Category:Open Access]]

Latest revision as of 11:51, 22 March 2024

Published
January 13, 2024
Title
The Penicillin saga: a different tale
Authors
Pietro Giusti, Andrea Vendramin and Morena Zusso
10.62684/YAAO1046
Keywords
Penicillin
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Pietro Giusti(a,b), Andrea Vendramin(a,c) and Morena Zusso(a,d)

(a)Dept. of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Studies, University of Padua, Italy.

(b)pietro.giusti@unipd.it

(c)andrea.vendramin50@gmail.com

(d)morena.zusso@unipd.it

Abstract

The Sumerians, but also the ancient Egyptians, as well as Greeks and Indians, used extracts of some plants and fungi for the treatment of infections. Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz (1846 - 1916), the author of Quo Vadis, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1905, in his novel “With iron and with fire” reports that during the 17th-century in Poland, wet bread was mixed with cobwebs (which often contained fungal spores) to heal wounds. In the same period, in England, in the book entitled Pharmacopoeia Londinensis, the apothecary and botanist John Parkinson (1567 - 1650) recommended the use of molds as a medical treatment for many infectious diseases that affect humans. These treatments often work since many organisms, including many species of mold, naturally produce antibiotic substances. However, ancient practitioners could not accurately identify or isolate the active components of these organisms.

Similar experiences and evidence have been found in many other countries, including Italy. For example, Bartolomeo Bizio (1791 - 1862), found in 1821, that the red color assumed by “polenta” (a corn meal dish) was due to a bacterium that he named Serratia marcescens and that its development was inhibited by the presence of mold.

After 1850, thanks to the progress of chemistry, the chemotherapy concept for the treatment of infectious diseases began to assert itself. Consequently, some effective chemical compounds were synthesized (for example sodium arsenylate by Antoine Béchamp in 1859 and used, at that time, against sleeping sickness and other trypanosomiasis. It was later abandoned due to its remarkable toxicity). However, thanks to Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895), in the seventies and eighties of the nineteenth century, the interest in substances of natural origin returned. Pasteur in fact highlighted both the inhibiting action of molds on the development of some bacteria and the antagonism between different bacteria. These observations were taken up by Arnaldo Cantani (1837 - 1893), who tried, with poor results, to apply Pasteur’s concept, developing bacteriotherapy (fight against pathogenic bacteria with other harmless bacteria) to treat tuberculosis.

Declarations

Conflict of Interest

The Author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

References

  1. Mohr, K.I.: History of Antibiotics Research. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 398, 237-272 (2016). doi: 10.1007/82_2016_499
  2. Shama, G.: La Moisissure et la Bactérie: Deconstructing the fable of the discovery of penicillin by Ernest Duchesne. Endeavour 40(3), 188-200 (2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.endeavour.2016.07.005
  3. De Giaxa, F.: The Pellagra [La Pellagra]. In: Casagrandi O. (Edt.), Trattato italiano di Igiene, vol. 6, parte sesta, fasc. I, UTET, Torino (1927)
  4. Gosio, B.: Contribution to the etiology of pellagra. Chemical and bacteriological research on maize alterations [Contributo all’etiologia della pellagra. Ricerche chimiche e batteriologiche sulle alterazioni del mais]. G. R. Accad. Med. Torino, 61, 484-487 (1893)
  5. Gosio, B.: Bacteriological and chemical research on corn alterations - Contribution to the etiology of Pellagra (Memory 2a) [Ricerche batteriologiche e chimiche sulle alterazioni del mais - Contributo all’etiologia della Pellagra (Memoria 2a)]. Rivista d’Igiene e Sanità pubblica Anno VII, n. 21, 825-868 (1896)
  6. Gosio, B., Ferrati, E.: On the physiological action of corn poisons invaded by some ifomycetes - Contribution to the etiology of Pellagra (Memory 3a) [Sull’azione fisiologica dei veleni del mais invaso da alcuni ifomiceti - Contributo all’etiologia della Pellagra (Memoria 3a)]. Rivista d’Igiene e Sanità pubblica, Anno VII, n. 24, 961-981 (1896)
  7. Laskin, A.I., Bennett, J.W., Gadd, G.M.: Advances in Applied Microbiology, 1st Edition, Vol. 51. Gulf Professional Publishing, p. 236 (2001)
  8. Kitchin, J.E., Pomeranz, M.K., Pak, G., Washenik, K., Shupack, J.L.: Rediscovering mycophenolic acid: A review of its mechanism, side effects, and potential uses. J Am Acad Dermatol, 37(3 Pt 1), 445-9 (1997). doi: 10.1016/s0190-9622(97)70147-6.
  9. Anderson, H.A., Bracewell, J.M., Fraser, A.R., Jones, D., Robertson, G.W., Russell, J.D.: 5-Hydroxymaltol and mycophenolic acid, secondary metabolites from Penicillium echinulatum. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 91(4), 649-651 (1988) https://doi.org/10.1016/S0007-1536(88)80040-8
  10. Florey, H.W., Gilliver, K., Jennings, M.A., Sanders, A.G.: Mycophenolic acid. An antibiotic from Penicillium brevicompactum Dierckx. The Lancet 1(6385), 46-9 (1946). doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(46)90242-5
  11. Tiberio, V.: On the extracts of some molds [Sugli estratti di alcune muffe]. Annali di Igiene sperimentale, 2nd series, 5, 91-103 (1895)
  12. Benigno, P.: A forerunner of antibiotic research [Un precursore delle ricerche sugli antibiotici]. Minerva Medica, 37, II (1946)
  13. Duchesne, E.: Contribution to the study of vital competition in microorganisms: antagonism between molds and microbes [Contribution à l'étude de la concurrence vitale chezles micro-organismes: antagonisme entre les moisissures et les microbes]. Lyon, France: Alexandre Rey, (1897)
  14. Schaefer, B.: Natural Products in the Chemical Industry. Springer. p. 231 (2015). doi:10.1007/978-3-642-54461-3. ISBN 9783642544613.
  15. Fierro, F., Vaca, I., Castillo, N.I., García-Rico, R.O., Chávez, R.: Penicillium chrysogenum, a Vintage Model with a Cutting-Edge Profile in Biotechnology. Microorganisms, 10(3), 573 (2022). doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10030573
  16. Levy, S.B.: The Antibiotic Paradox: How the Misuse of Antibiotics Destroys Their Curative Powers (2nd Edn). International Microbiology 5(3) (2002) doi: 10.1007/s10123-002-0082-z
  17. Pfizer Inc. 1900-1950. Exploring Our History. Pfizer Inc. 2009. Retrieved November 2020
  18. Clarke, H.T., Johnson, J.R., Robinson, R.: Chemistry of Penicillin. I. Brief History of the Chemical Study of Penicillin. Princeton University Press p. 6. (1949) doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400874910-002
  19. Baxter, J.P.: Scientists Against Time. Atlantic‐Little, Brown and Company, Boston, p. 351(1947). https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.3730310530
  20. Florey, H.W., Abraham, P.: The Work on Penicillin at Oxford. J Hist Med Allied Sci 6(3), 302-17 (1951). doi: 10.1093/jhmas/vi.summer.302
  21. Ercoli, N.: Dosage problems in penillin therapy [Des problèmes de dosage en pénicillinothérapie]. Schweiz Med Wochenschrift 79(17), 378-382 (1949) PMID: 18131012
  22. Sheehan, J.C., Buhle, E.L., Corey, E.J., Laubach, G.D., Ryan J.J.: The total synthesis of a 5-phenyl penicillin: methyl 5-phenyl-(2-carbomethoxyethyl)-penicillinate. J.Am.Chem.Soc. 72(8), 3828-3829 (1950). https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01164a534
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