Nikolay Nikolayevich Anichkov (russian: Никола́й Никола́евич Ани́чков, often spelled ''Anitschkow'' in German literature) (1885,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

– 1964) was a prominent pathologist of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n heritage. Anichkov first described the specialized

myocardial Cardiac muscle (also called heart muscle, myocardium, cardiomyocytes and cardiac myocytes) is one of three types of vertebrate muscle tissues, with the other two being skeletal muscle and smooth muscle. It is an involuntary, striated muscle that ...

cells (

Anitschkow cell In pathology, Anitschkow (or Anichkov) cells are often cells associated with rheumatic heart disease. Anitschkow cells are enlarged macrophages found within granulomas (called Aschoff bodies) associated with the disease. The cells are also calle ...

, cardiac

histiocyte A histiocyte is a vertebrate cell that is part of the mononuclear phagocyte system (also known as the reticuloendothelial system or lymphoreticular system). The mononuclear phagocytic system is part of the organism's immune system. The histiocyt ...

) and discovered the significance and role of

cholesterol Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell mem ...

atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheroma, atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usu ...

pathogenesis. In 1958, in an editorial in ''

Annals of Internal Medicine ''Annals of Internal Medicine'' is an academic medical journal published by the American College of Physicians (ACP). It is one of the most widely cited and influential specialty medical journals in the world. ''Annals'' publishes content relevan ...

'', William Dock compared the significance of the classic work of Anichkov to that of the discovery of the tubercle bacillus by

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( , ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera (though the Vibrio ...

. American biochemist D. Steinberg wrote: "If the full significance of his findings had been appreciated at the time, we might have saved more than 30 years in the long struggle to settle the cholesterol controversy and Anitschkow might have won a Nobel Prize".J. Lipid Res., 2004, Vol. 45, p. 1583-93. Anichkov elaborated on the doctrines of

reticuloendothelial system In anatomy the term "reticuloendothelial system" (abbreviated RES), often associated nowadays with the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS), was originally launched by the beginning of the 20th century to denote a system of specialised cells that eff ...

and autogenic infections.

Early life and training

His father, Nikolay M. Anichkov (1844–1916), was a representative of ancient Russian nobility and held the position of Vice-Minister of Education of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. His mother, L. I. Vasiliyeva (1859–1924), was the daughter of a priest that was founder of the Alexander Nevsky Orthodox church in Rue Daru,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1903, Anichkov entered the

Imperial Military Medical Academy The S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy (russian: Военно-медицинская академия имени С. М. Кирова) is a higher education institution of military medicine in Saint Petersburg and the Russian Federation. Senior ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. There, he became a pupil of prominent Russian

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

Alexander A. Maximow Alexander Alexandrowitsch Maximow (russian: Александр Александрович Максимов; – December 4, 1928) was a Russian-American scientist in the fields of Histology and Embryology whose team developed the hypothesis about ...

(1874–1928) and later, in Freiburg, a pupil of the German pathologist Karl Albert Ludwig Aschoff (1866–1942). Upon his graduation in 1909, Anichkov began to work on his doctoral thesis, titled ''Inflammatory changes in myocardium: apropos of myocarditis'', and he successfully defended it in 1912. In this thesis, he first described the specific heart macrophages that today bear his name

. At the same time, Anichkov worked on an experimental model of atherosclerosis together with a student, S. Chalatov. They created a model of experimental atherosclerosis.

Career in Germany and Russia

In 1912, Anichkov moved to Freiburg to work under German pathologist L. Aschoff. The latter was interested in Anichkov's experimental work done in Russia. In Germany he became the first to describe ''cholesterinesterphagozyten'', German for 'cholesteryl ester phagocytes', which derive from

macrophage Macrophages (abbreviated as M φ, MΦ or MP) ( el, large eaters, from Greek ''μακρός'' (') = large, ''φαγεῖν'' (') = to eat) are a type of white blood cell of the immune system that engulfs and digests pathogens, such as cancer cel ...

s and today are known as

foam cell Foam cells, also called lipid-laden macrophages, are a type of cell that contain cholesterol. These can form a plaque that can lead to atherosclerosis and trigger heart attacks and stroke. Foam cells are fat-laden cells with a M2 macrophage-like ...

s. By histologically analyzing the development of atherosclerotic plaque, Anichkov identified the cell types involved in the atherosclerotic process:

smooth muscle Smooth muscle is an involuntary non-striated muscle, so-called because it has no sarcomeres and therefore no striations (''bands'' or ''stripes''). It is divided into two subgroups, single-unit and multiunit smooth muscle. Within single-unit mus ...

cells, macrophages, and

lymphocyte A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell (leukocyte) in the immune system of most vertebrates. Lymphocytes include natural killer cells (which function in cell-mediated, cytotoxic innate immunity), T cells (for cell-mediated, cytotoxic ad ...

s. He discovered the leading role of cholesterol in atherosclerosis development ("There is no atherosclerosis without cholesterol"). Anichkov worked in Aschoff's laboratory up to the time World War I broke out in August 1914. He joined the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...

Medical Corps and, from 1914 to 1917, was a physician-in-charge. In 1920, Anichkov was appointed Professor of the Department of Pathological physiology of the Military Medical Academy, a position that he held until 1939. He presented updates on atherosclerosis research at the Congresses in Berlin, Freiburg, Würzburg and Wiesbaden, and at meetings of the Swedish Society of Pathologists, and the International Society of Geographic Pathology. In 1930, after the Congress in Osaka, he went to Tokyo, Niigata, and Kyoto, to deliver a lecture "On experimental atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries of the heart". He wrote a chapter in E.V. Cowdry's ''Arteriosclerosis: A Survey of the Problem'' in 1933. In 1939-46, the lieutenant-general of Medical Corps Anichkov headed the Military Medical Academy's Department of Pathological anatomy. In 1942, Anichkov and A. I. Abrikosov received a State award for their textbook ''Pathological Anatomy of the Heart and Vessels'', in which they gave a detailed account of the development of atherosclerosis and

ischemic Ischemia or ischaemia is a restriction in blood supply to any tissue, muscle group, or organ of the body, causing a shortage of oxygen that is needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive). Ischemia is generally caused by problems wi ...

heart disease. In their 1998 book titled ''Medicine's 10 Greatest Discoveries'', M. Friedman and M. Friedland included the Anichkov's cholesterol theory in a list of great discoveries in medicine. During Anichkov's work as President of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1946–53) he participated in the foundation of a number of research institutes and research journals. In this period and later he created a research team in Russian pathology that consisted of 30 professors and many doctors.

Family

Anichkov was married twice. He had one son, Mily (1920–1991), who became a Professor of Surgery and Colonel of Medical Corps. His grandson Nikolay M. Anichkov (born in 1941) is Professor of Pathology, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, formerly Vice-President of the Russian Society of Pathology and head at Department of pathology in North-West State Medical University named after I.I Mechnickov, St. Petersburg, Russia (1984-2019). All N. N. Anichkov's children and colleagues remembered him as a kind-hearted man who was always fair to his coworkers and good to his friends. He died on 7 December 1964 of a myocardial infarction.

Degrees and titles held

Doctor of Medicine (1909), Doctor of Sciences (1912), Professor of Pathology (1920), lieutenant-general of Medical Corps, State award holder (1940), Fellow of the

USSR Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

and the

USSR Academy of Medical Sciences The USSR Academy of Medical Sciences (russian: Акаде́мия медици́нских нау́к СССР) was the highest scientific and medical organization founded in the Soviet Union founded in 1944. Its successor is the Russian Academy of ...

, President of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences (1946–53).

References

*Dock, W. ''Research in arteriosclerosis, the first fifty years''. Ann Intern Med, 1958, Vol. 49, p. 699–705. ubMed *''Classics in arteriosclerosis research: On experimental cholesterol steatosis and its significance in the origin of some pathological processes'' by N. Anitschkow and S. Chalatow, translated by Mary Z. Pelias, 1913. Arteriosclerosis, 1983, Vol. 3, p. 178–82. ubMed *Sarkisov DS, Pozharisskii KM, Anichkov NM. ''N.N. Anichkov, 1885–1964''. Moscow: Meditsina Press; 1989. *Finking G, Hanke H. ''Nikolaj Nikolajewitsch Anitschkow (1885–1964) established the cholesterol-fed rabbit as a model for atherosclerosis research''. Atherosclerosis, 1997, Vol. 135, p. 1–7. ubMed *Friedman M, Friedland GW. ''Medicine's 10 greatest discoveries''. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press; 1998. *Stehbens WE. ''Anitschkow and the cholesterol over-fed rabbit''. Cardiovasc Pathol, 1999, Vol. 8, p. 177–8. ubMed *Mehta NJ, Khan IA. ''Cardiology's 10 greatest discoveries of the 20th century''. Tex Heart Inst J, 2002, Vol. 29, p. 164–71. ubMed *Steinberg D. ''The Pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis. An interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy: part I''. Journal of Lipid Research, 2004, Vol. 45, p. 1583-93. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anichkov, Nikolay Nikolaevich 1885 births 1964 deaths Physicians from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Academicians of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin Presidents of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences Second convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Military doctors of the Russian Empire Physicians from the Russian Empire Russian military personnel of World War I Russian pathologists Soviet lieutenant generals Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet pathologists Burials at Bogoslovskoe Cemetery Expatriates from the Russian Empire in Germany

Early life and training

Career in Germany and Russia

Family

Degrees and titles held

See also

References