Karl Hürthle (March 16, 1860 – March 23, 1945) was a German

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

and

histologist Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures visi ...

who was a native of

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a Cities of Germany, city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg (district), Lu ...

. In 1884, he received his doctorate from the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

, where he remained until 1886, working as a

prosector A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and ...

at the anatomical institute. At

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

, he was a student and assistant to physiologists

Karl von Vierordt Karl von Vierordt (July 1, 1818 – November 22, 1884) was a German physiologist. Vierordt was born in Lahr, Baden. He studied at the universities of Berlin, Göttingen, Vienna, and Heidelberg, and began a practice in Karlsruhe in 1842. In 1 ...

(1818-1884) and Paul Grützner (1847-1919). In 1887, he became an assistant to

Rudolf Heidenhain Rudolf Peter Heinrich Heidenhain (; 29 January 1834 – 13 October 1897) was a German physiologist born in Marienwerder, Province of Prussia (now Kwidzyn, Poland). His son, Martin Heidenhain, was a highly regarded anatomist. Academic career ...

(1834-1897) at the physiological institute in Breslau, and in 1895 attained the title of ''professor extraordinarius''. In 1898, he succeeded Heidenhain at the department of physiology in Breslau. Later in his career, he worked at the physiological institute at Tübingen, and also in the department of experimental

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

and

therapy A therapy or medical treatment is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. Both words, ''treatment'' and ''therapy'', are often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx. As a rule, each therapy has indications a ...

at the Kerckhoff Institute in

Bad Nauheim Bad Nauheim () is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. As of 2020, Bad Nauheim has a population of 32,493. The town is approximately north of Frankfurt am Main, on the east edge of the Taunus mountain range. It is a w ...

(now known as the

Max Planck Institute The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

for Heart and Lung Research). Hürthle is remembered for contributions made in the field of

haemodynamics Hemodynamics or haemodynamics are the dynamics of blood flow. The circulatory system is controlled by homeostatic mechanisms of autoregulation, just as hydraulic circuits are controlled by control systems. The hemodynamic response continuously ...

. He performed extensive research involving

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of Circulatory system, circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term ...

, blood viscosity, intracranial circulation, blood supply of organs,

vasodilatation Vasodilation, also known as vasorelaxation, is the widening of blood vessels. It results from relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, in particular in the large veins, large arteries, and smaller arterioles. Blood vessel ...

, and a phenomenon he called ''Windkesseleffekt'', of which he demonstrated plays an important role in the maintenance of blood pressure. He also described the motion phenomena of the

arterial An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...

vascular wall, performed studies involving the structure of

striated muscle Striated muscle tissue is a muscle tissue that features repeating functional units called sarcomeres. Under the microscope, sarcomeres are visible along muscle fibers, giving a striated appearance to the tissue. The two types of striated muscle a ...

, and investigated the function and

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

of the

thyroid gland The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, it is a butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck below the Adam's apple. It consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by ...

. A large, granular

epithelial Epithelium or epithelial tissue is a thin, continuous, protective layer of cells with little extracellular matrix. An example is the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. Epithelial ( mesothelial) tissues line the outer surfaces of man ...

cell sometimes found in the thyroid is called a "

Hürthle cell A Hürthle cell is a transformed (metaplasia) thyroid follicular cell with "enlarged mitochondria and enlarged round nuclei with prominent nucleoli", resulting in eosinophilia in the cytoplasm. Oncocytes in the thyroid are often called Hürthl ...

".Hürthle cells
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

Selected publications

* ''Zur Technik der Untersuchung des Blutdruckes'' (Studies involving blood pressure), 1888 * ''Untersuchungen über die Innervation der Hirngefäße'' (Studies on the innervation of brain vessels), 1889 * ''Ueber eine Methode zur Registrierung des arteriellen Blutdrucks beim Menschen'' (A method for registration of arterial blood pressure in humans), 1896 * ''Über die Struktur der querstreiftem Muskelfasern von Hydrophilus'' 1909 * ''Histologische Struktur und optische Eigenschaften der Muskeln'' (Histological structure and optical properties of muscles), 1925 * ''Blutkreislauf im Gehirn'' (Blood circulation in the brain), 1927 * ''Die mittlere Blutversorgung der einzelnen Organe'' (The average blood supply to the individual organs), 1927 * ''Über tonische und pulsatorische Bewegungen der Arterienwand'' (About tonic and pulsatory movements of the arterial wall), 1939

References

* ''This article was based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurthle, Karl German physiologists German histologists 1945 deaths 1860 births Academic staff of the University of Breslau University of Tübingen alumni