Gastão Rosenfeld (born

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, July 26, 1912; died

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, July 15, 1990), was a Brazilian

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

biomedical scientist A biomedical scientist is a scientist trained in biology, particularly in the context of medical laboratory sciences or laboratory medicine. These scientists work to gain knowledge on the main principles of how the human body works and to find new w ...

, one of the co-discoverers of

bradykinin Bradykinin (BK) (Greek brady-, slow; -kinin, kīn(eîn) to move) is a peptide that promotes inflammation. It causes arterioles to dilate (enlarge) via the release of prostacyclin, nitric oxide, and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor and ...

, together with

Maurício Rocha e Silva Maurício Oscar da Rocha e Silva (19 September 1910, Rio de Janeiro – 19 December 1983, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) was a Brazilian physician, biomedical scientist and pharmacologist. He discovered bradykinin, an endogenous polypeptide involved ...

and Wilson Teixeira Beraldo, in 1949.

Early life and education

Rosenfeld was born in 1912 in Budapest,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, to a family of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

origin, and came with his parents to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 1913, graduating in

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

in 1938.

Career

Hematology, snake venom research

In 1932, he began to devote himself to Hematology. His work at the Butantan Institute, a research institution located in

. began in 1945, invited by Prof. William Otto Bier a famous

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learning about bacteria, ...

(then director of the Institute), and soon was charged with organizing and heading the Laboratory of Hematology and being responsible for its research line on Experimental Hematology. In 1947 Dr. Rosenfeld started to work at São Paulo's Instituto Biológico, but returned to the Institute in 1951. and in 1954 took over as chief physician at the Hospital Vital Brazil, where he served until 1966. The hospital was founded by Dr. Vital Brazil, one of the world pioneers in the study of animal

envenomation Envenomation is the process by which venom is injected by the bite or sting of a venomous animal. Many kinds of animals, including mammals (e.g., the northern short-tailed shrew, ''Blarina brevicauda''), reptiles (e.g., the king cobra), spiders ...

and was purposed as a unit of

acute care Acute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery.Alberta Health ServicesAcute care.Acce ...

for the victims of

venomous animals Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

. As such, Dr. Rosenfeld was concerned about the lack of medical knowledge about the actions of

venoms Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...

on the human body and its

medical therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

, at the time. Due to the fact that it was the only hospital in Brazil which was exclusively dedicated to these episodes, and, besides, since it was attached to a research and educational institution, Dr. Rosenfeld favored from the beginning the systematic observation of patients, resulting over the years in a large and original body of new knowledge about symptoms and treatment of victims of animal poisoning. This, in addition, spurred the realization of a large number of laboratory studies. Based on his experience in the field of hematology, Dr. Rosenfeld published many studies on the pathophysiology of

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

bite poisoning in experimental animals, and was able to apply this rich knowledge to the clinical area. Rosenfeld was interested in the study of

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

of the action of

venom

toxin A toxin is a naturally occurring organic poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. Toxins occur especially as a protein or conjugated protein. The term toxin was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849 ...

s in animals and humans, particularly those of the

Bothrops ''Bothrops'' is a genus of highly venomous pit vipers endemic to Central and South America.McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1''. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp ...

family ( lancehead or jararaca), which is extremely abundant all over Brazil and which caused a great number of accidents and deaths at his time. Among other things, he investigated the action of the venom of this snake on

fibrinolysis Fibrinolysis is a process that prevents blood clots from growing and becoming problematic. Primary fibrinolysis is a normal body process, while secondary fibrinolysis is the breakdown of clots due to a medicine, a medical disorder, or some other ...

and blood coagulation. Among his many other contributions to biomedical sciences are the development of a rapid staining for

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...

smears combining May–Grunwald and

Giemsa Giemsa stain (), named after German chemist and bacteriologist Gustav Giemsa, is a nucleic acid stain used in cytogenetics and for the histopathological diagnosis of malaria and other parasites. Uses It is specific for the phosphate groups of ...

techniques in 1947 ( Rosenfeld staining), the introduction a new treatment for chronic leukemia using personal control of maintenance dosis (1955) and described hementerin, an anticoagulant isolated of a Brazilian species of leech (''Haementeria depressa'') jointly with Eva Maria Antonia Kelen in 1975.

Bradykinin discovery

In 1948, as part of a research team at the Instituto Biológico, Dr. Rosenfeld co-discovered, with two other Brazilian physiologists and

pharmacologist Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemic ...

s, Drs.

and Wilson Teixeira Beraldo, a new endogenous

peptide Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. ...

capable of causing a powerful fall of blood pressure on animal preparations, which they called

. The substance, a short

kinin A kinin is any of various structurally related polypeptides, such as bradykinin and kallidin. They are members of the autacoid family. Kinins are peptides that are cleaved from kininogens by the process of kallikreins. Kallikreins activate kinins ...

with nine

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha a ...

s only, was detected in the

blood plasma Blood plasma is a light amber-colored liquid component of blood in which blood cells are absent, but contains proteins and other constituents of whole blood in suspension. It makes up about 55% of the body's total blood volume. It is the intr ...

of dogs after the addition of venom extracted from the ''Bothrops jararaca'' snake, brought by Rosenfeld from the Butantan Institute. The discovery was part of a continuing study on

circulatory shock Shock is the state of insufficient blood flow to the Tissue (biology), tissues of the body as a result of problems with the circulatory system. Initial symptoms of shock may include weakness, fast heart rate, fast breathing, sweating, anxiety, a ...

and

proteolytic enzymes Proteolysis is the breakdown of proteins into smaller polypeptides or amino acids. Uncatalysed, the hydrolysis of peptide bonds is extremely slow, taking hundreds of years. Proteolysis is typically catalysed by cellular enzymes called protease ...

related to the

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating e ...

of snake bites, started by Rocha e Silva as early as 1939. Bradykinin was to prove a new autopharmacological principle, i.e., a substance that is released in the body by a metabolic modification from precursors, which are pharmacologically active. The discovery of bradykinin led to a new understanding of many physiological and pathological phenomena including circulatory shock induced by venoms and toxins. Ultimately, the extensive study of the origins of its formation in the body, by Sérgio Henrique Ferreira, a noted Brazilian pharmacologist, and others, led to the development of new

anti-hypertensive Antihypertensives are a class of drugs that are used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). Antihypertensive therapy seeks to prevent the complications of high blood pressure, such as stroke and myocardial infarction. Evidence suggests that r ...

agents in humans, such as captopril, developed by Squibb under the name of Capoten, and still widely used. However, the team of Brazilian scientists, including Rocha e Silva, Beraldo, Rosenfeld and Ferreira never came to enjoy the royalties of such discovery, since they always published in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

of pure scientific knowledge.

Other activities

Dr. Rosenfeld was also an important scientific leader, having been involved in the foundation of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, in 1949. In addition, he was an accomplished amateur

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

. A part of his photographic collection between 1962 and 1976 has been preserved at the Instituto Moreira Salles.

References

* Kelen EM, & Gastão Rosenfeld (26/07/1912-15/07/1990). ''Ciência e Cultura'' 42(12)December 1990 * Fan Hui Wen; Aline Solosando; Suzana Cesar Gouveia Fernandes; Marcella Faria; Nelson Ibañez; Osvaldo Augusto Sant'Anna
Memória iconográfica do Instituto Butantan. O acervo Gastão Rosenfeld
''Cad. hist. ciênc.'' vol.2 no.1 São Paulo 2006

External links

Photo of Dr. Gastão Rosenfeld
and other researchers at the 2nd Meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, 1950. * Instituto Moreira Salles
Coleção Gastão Rosenfeld
* May–Grunwald-Giemsa blood staining technique

Bibliography

* Kelen EM, Rosenfeld G, Vainzof M, & Machado ZC. Experimental defibrination and bothropase: a study on the fibrinolytic mechanism in vivo. ''Haemostasis''. 1978;7(1):35-45. * Rosenfeld G, Hampe OG, Kelen EMA. Coagulant and fibrinolytic activity of animal venoms; determination of coagulant and fibrinolytic index of different species. Memórias do Instituto Butantan;29:143-163, 1959. * Rosenfeld G. Symptomatology, pathology, and treatment of snake bites in South America. In: Bucherl W, Buckley EE, Deulofeu V, editors. Venomous animals and their venoms. New York: Academic Press, 1971:345-841. Links * Rosenfeld G. Acidentes com animais peçonhentos. In Baruzzi GR, Siqueira R, Lacaz CS (eds) Geografia Médica do Brasil. São Paulo: Edusp, 1972, pp. 430–75. Links {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenfeld, Gastao Brazilian scientists 1912 births 1990 deaths Jewish scientists Brazilian Jews Brazilian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Austro-Hungarian emigrants to Brazil Hungarian Jews