1/15/2023 0 Comments Rita levi montalciniIt may also be utilized in future for the management of diabetic neuropathy.ĭr. NGF promotes angiogenesis and cardiomyocyte survival, and may turn out to be a potential treatment for coronary artery disease. NGF has also been tried in neurodegenerative disorders, and in cardiovascular disease as well. NGF has been studied for its antiaging properties, thus adding fuel to the controversy related to this subspecialty of science. Rita, and later researchers, tried to explore the therapeutic benefits and clinical applications of this hormone as well. The story of the discovery of NGF did not end in the laboratory Petri dishes. These fields, today, are an accepted part of endocrine science. Rita stimulated endocrinologists to look beyond the traditional definition of hormones, and to go where none had gone before.Her work also fueled interest in paracrinology, and later, autocrinology and intracrinology. NGF, however, brought attention to a novel family of growth factors or hormones.ĭr. On the other hand, clinical endocrinology, and endocrine therapeutics, was limited, to the study of a few major glands. On one hand, newer entities were being discovered, isolated, and measured, faster than textbooks could document. Till then, the budding specialty had focused on “circulating hormones” secreted from the “classic” glands. Rita's discovery expanded the frontiers of endocrinology like never before. Is it a hormone? Or is it not? A small peptide, secreted in minute quantities, found in circulation, acting on specific receptors, to create well-characterized downstream effects in various organs, it certainly fits the definition of a hormone.ĭr. NGF, for the modern student of endocrinology, is a paradox. Rita become an icon for endocrinology? Is her discovery, the NGF, really a hormone? And is IJEM justified in bringing out this editorial? Interest was created in this family of hormones, however, only after Dr. It took 35 years of hard work (and chance), according to Dr Rita, for NGF to be discovered. The conferral of the Nobel Prize also brought into limelight, the important growth factors, which had been discovered in the early 1950s, but were ignored by endocrinologists and other medical specialists. A physician by training, a neurologist by profession, and a hardcore neuroembryology researcher at heart, she discovered an endocrine entity, which straddled the worlds of neurology, endocrinology, embryology, geriatrics, and many other specialties. The acknowledgment of her work showcased the advantages of cross-fertilization that occurs between various disciplines of medicine. The medical community realized the odds she had faced, first in convincing her traditionally minded father to allow her to study, then in completing medical college, and later in beginning her research as a displaced person in wartime Italy. Her achievement was no mean feat, hailing as she did, from a minority community living under a hostile government. It brought to center stage, her determination, fortitude, and courage. The laurel was special in another way, too. Earlier, two other gutsy ladies had been honored for their contributions in endocrinology: Gerty Theresa Cori in 1947 for discovering the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen, and Rosalyn Yalow in 1977 for inventing radioimmunoassay to measure peptide hormones. Rita being just the fourth female recipient of the Medicine or Physiology Prize. It highlighted the contribution of a woman researcher in a male-dominated field, with Dr. This recognition, though, went far beyond a simple award. Cohen for discovering epidermal growth factor (EGF). The prize was conferred upon her for the discovery of the nerve growth factor (NGF), and upon Dr. Stanley Cohen, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology. Rita Levi-Montalcini is a living celebration of our subject, and what it stands for. And an even unlikelier icon for youth and antiaging! At 103, and hoping for more, Dr. Frail and lean, hard of hearing, with limited vision, she makes an unlikely brand ambassador for endocrinology.
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