title: The history of pyridinium oximes as nerve gas antidotes: the British contribution.
abstract: Irwin B. Wilson, working in the laboratory of David Nachmansohn at Columbia, demonstrated the ability of hydroxylamine to reactivate cholinesterase inhibited by organophosphates. Soon thereafter Wilson and Ginsburg reacted pyridine-2-aldoxime with methyl iodide to synthesize the first pyridinium aldoxime reactivator of clinical relevance, 2-PAM (pralidoxime). Independently, and at the same time, similar work was conducted in Britain at the Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment in Porton by Green leading also to the synthesis of 2-PAM and the recognition of its reactivating properties. While the American contribution is well known, the British achievements were less publicized. The present contribution attempts to shed some light on the life and work of the people who contributed to the early development of cholinesterase reactivators, the pyridinium aldoximes at Porton.
authors.affiliation: Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Department of Cellular Biology & Pharmacology, Miami, FL 33199, USA. georg.petroianu@fiu.edu
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Petroianu
mesh_terms: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000506:poisoning*; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000506:poisoning*; D002801:Cholinesterase Reactivators / Q000266:history* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D019811:Hydroxylamine / Q000266:history / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011220:Pralidoxime Compounds / Q000266:history* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D002801:Cholinesterase Reactivators; D011220:Pralidoxime Compounds; D019811:Hydroxylamine