title: [The origin of cephalosporins].
abstract: The origin of cephalosporins is investigated. In 1945, Giuseppe Brotzu, who was the rector of the University of Cagliari in Sardina, Italy, isolated a cephalosporin-producing strain, Cephalosporium acremonium. Although as many as 48 cephalosporin derivatives have been developed in Japan, how a cephalosporin-producing organism was discovered is not widely known here. This article contains the first Japanese translation of Brotzu's Italian publication entitled "Ricerche su di un nuovo antibiotico (Research on a new Antibiotic)" and reveals how cephalosporin was developed, together with a cross reference to the first report of penicillin, a similar antibiotic compound, which was discovered by A. Fleming in 1928. Brotzu's brief academic and social background is also presented.
authors.affiliation: Translation Center Inc., Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
authors.forename: Shokichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakajima
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000266:history*; D002511:Cephalosporins / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D007558:Italy
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002511:Cephalosporins