Cortisone was isolated at the Mayo Clinic in the mid-1930s by biochemist Edward Kendall and his colleague Harold Mason, who identified it among several compounds extracted from the adrenal cortex, at the time known only by the laboratory designation Compound E. Its medical importance became clear in 1949, when rheumatologist Philip Hench, also at the Mayo Clinic, found that injecting large doses of cortisone produced a dramatic, if temporary, improvement in patients disabled by severe rheumatoid arthritis, a result that made front-page news at the time. Kendall, Hench and Swiss chemist Tadeusz Reichstein, who had independently isolated cortisone and other adrenal hormones somewhat earlier without recognizing their clinical significance, shared the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the structure and function of adrenal cortex hormones, opening the way to corticosteroid therapy as a treatment for arthritis and a wide range of other inflammatory and autoimmune conditions.
Facts
Partially Attested
Discovery DateFirst clinical injection is well dated to September 1948, a year before the discovery-year of 1949 already attested for this entity; 1949 appears to mark Hench's public presentation of the results at a Mayo Clinic staff meeting rather than the first treatment itself, so the two dates describe different milestones of the same discovery rather than a real conflict. Discovery Year DiscovererEdward Kendall, Philip Showalter Hench and Tadeusz Reichstein 1 Classification
Type/Classification Connections
Associated With
The discovery and synthesis of cortisone directly enabled hormone replacement treatment for Addison's disease.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Cortisone
Wikimedia FoundationBiography, 1950 Nobel Prize citation
Kendall was awarded the 1950 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine along with Philip Showalter Hench and Tadeusz Reichstein for the discovery of the structure and function of adrenal cortex hormones including cortisone.
History section, Wikipedia Cortisone
In 1949, Philip S. Hench and colleagues discovered that large doses of injected cortisone were effective in the treatment of patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis.
entity description, Discovery of Cortisone
Cortisone was isolated at the Mayo Clinic in the mid-1930s by biochemist Edward Kendall and his colleague Harold Mason, who identified it among several compounds extracted from the adrenal cortex, at the time known only by the laboratory designation Compound E.
View the Source 2. Mayo Clinic Archives: Discovery of Cortisone
Guide page, first patient accountQuote, Guide page, first patient account
Mrs. G., a 29-year-old patient at Mayo Clinic suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, was the first person to receive an injection of Compound E on September 21, 1948.
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