title: [Adrenaline: isolated 111 years ago by an energetic Japanese scientist, Jokichi Takamine].
abstract: Adrenaline is one of the most commonly used drugs in anesthesia, intensive care and pain medicine. This organic substance was first isolated by a Japanese scientist, Jokichi Takamine, with an ingenious technical assistance by Keizo Uenaka. Although 111 years have passed from their success, the brightness of this achievement has never faded. Also, conflicts provoked after the invention suggest many fundamental issues regarding scientific invention and business. Anesthesiologists, who take big benefits of adrenaline, should correctly understand how this useful drug became available widely in the world and why the name was fluctuated between "adrenaline" and "epinephrine".
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi 371-8511.
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kamiyama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000266:history* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan
chemical_list: D004837:Epinephrine