Jacques Raphaël Lépine (6 July 1840 – 17 November 1919) was a French

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 ...

who was a native of

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Biography

From 1860 he served as interne to the hospitals of Lyon, and later moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where from 1865 he also worked as a hospital intern. In Paris he was a student of

Jean-Martin Charcot Jean-Martin Charcot (; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurology, neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on groundbreaking work about hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise A ...

(1825–1893). Afterwards, he continued his education at the universities of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

(1867) and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

(1869). At Karl Ludwig's laboratory in

he performed important studies on the

vasomotor Vasomotor refers to actions upon a blood vessel which alter its diameter. More specifically, it can refer to vasodilator action and vasoconstrictor action. Control Sympathetic innervation Sympathetic nerve fibers travel around the tunica media ...

nerves of the

tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...

. In 1870 he obtained his doctorate in Paris with a dissertation titled "''De l'hémiplégie pneumonique''". In Paris he successively became ''chef de clinique'' (1872), ''médecin des hôpitaux'' (1874) and agrégé at the Paris faculty (1875). In 1877 he was appointed professor at the medical clinic of the newly established medical faculty in Lyons. Raphaël Lépine is known for his investigations in

experimental medicine An experimental drug is a medicinal product (a drug or vaccine) that has not yet received approval from governmental regulatory authorities for routine use in human or veterinary medicine. A medicinal product may be approved for use in one diseas ...

, that included extensive research involving

glycolysis Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose () into pyruvic acid, pyruvate and, in most organisms, occurs in the liquid part of cells (the cytosol). The Thermodynamic free energy, free energy released in this process is used to form ...

and the

pathophysiology Pathophysiology (or physiopathology) is a branch of study, at the intersection of pathology and physiology, concerning disordered physiological processes that cause, result from, or are otherwise associated with a disease or injury. Pathology is ...

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

. He was the brother of Louis Lépine, Prefect of Police for the Seine from 1893 to 1897 and again from 1899 to 1913.

Selected writings

* ''Sur un cas d'abcès d'un des lobes antérieurs du cerveau''; Abscess of the anterior lobes of the brain * ''De l'hémiplégie pneumonique'' (1870) --- On pneumonic

hemiplegia Hemiparesis, also called unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia, in its most severe form, is the complete paralysis of one entire side of the body. Either hemiparesis or hemiplegia ...

* ''De la localisation dans les maladies cérébrales'' (1875) --- Localization in brain diseases * ''Additions à la traduction francaise du Traité des maladies des reins de Bartels'' (1884) --- Additions to the French translation of the treatise on

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an Inflammation, inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Infla ...

s by Karl Heinrich Christian Bartels. * ''Le Ferment glycolytique et la pathogénie du diabète'' (1891) --- The glycolytic ferment and pathogenesis of diabetes * ''Influence de la faradisation des nerfs du pancréas sur la glycolyse'' (1899) * ''Le diabète et son traitement'' (1899) --- Diabetes and its treatment * ''Le diabète non compliqué et son traitement'' (1905) * ''Les complications du diabète et leur traitement'' (1906) --- Diabetic complications and treatment * ''Le Sucre virtuel du sang'' (1910) with R. Boulud --- The virtual

blood sugar The blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, blood glucose level, or glycemia is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood. The body tightly regulates blood glucose levels as a part of metabolic homeostasis. For a 70 kg (1 ...

* ''Sur la résorption du sucre par les tubes du rein'' (1911) --- On the absorption of sugar by the tubes of the

kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

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References

Pagel: Biographical Dictionary
(translated biography)

biography of Raphaël Lépine, in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lepine, Raphael French physiologists 1840 births 1919 deaths Physicians from Lyon Academic staff of the University of Lyon