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Reviews History of medicine The rise and fall of adrenaline Adrenaline


Author Brian B. Hoffman Publisher Harvard University Press Year 2013 Pages 298 Price £18.95 ISBN 978-0-674- 05088-4


discover the volume of a puncheon and the use to which a pycnometer could be put.


This is a book that I hope will find its way to the shelves of every university in the country where chemistry, biology, biochemistry, environmental science and business studies are taught. It is an invaluable reference source and a potential aid to every aspiring craft brewer or home brewer, so it should have a wide audience of readers. I recently saw an article on someone


who had read the Encyclopaedia Britannica from cover to cover. While I am not advocating that we should all do the same, the author observed that many great discoveries were made by those who took ideas from outside their normal fields. For this reason, I hope that chemists will dip into this encyclopaedia.


James Bryce is a senior lecturer in the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK


A


drenaline, also known as epinephrine, has a rich and colourful history. Not only was it the first hormone to be discovered but it is the most powerful hormone


produced by mammals and reptiles. Because of its astonishing potency, adrenaline is widely used in the English language as a metaphor for power and vigour. For many reasons, the appearance of a full- length monograph on this remarkable substance is to be welcomed. In humans, adrenaline is released into the


bloodstream from the adrenal glands, which sit near the top of the kidneys; there are three main types of adrenergic receptor, each of which has three subtypes. Its full chemical name is 4-[(1R)-1- hydroxy-2-(methylamino)ethyl]-benzene-1,2-diol and the (R) form is about 20 times more active than the (S) form because the fit of the former in adrenergic receptors is so tight that only it can effectively activate them. Attempts to establish the precise mode of action of adrenaline have led to many fundamentally important discoveries. Adrenaline’s effects first became apparent in the 1890s when extracts from the adrenal glands of animals were administered to dogs and to human volunteers. In both groups, the radial artery became constricted, and the blood pressure and blood sugar level rose dramatically. It was soon realised that adrenaline was so potent that quite low doses could prove fatal – an eventuality that


has often occurred by accident, and sometimes by intent. Fantastic properties soon began to be ascribed to adrenaline: it was claimed it could cure all manner of ailments and even resuscitate the dead.


Recent decades, however, have seen a gradual


downgrading of adrenaline’s supposedly legendary powers and a more realistic assessment of its capabilities. In spite of some alleged negative side effects, adrenaline is still used to restart hearts that have ceased to beat regularly; it can also be used in the treatment of life-threatening allergic reactions to food and animal stings; and is valuable in the control of major asthma attacks and severe bleeding from blood vessels. Interestingly, no Nobel prizes have been


awarded for research specifically on adrenaline, though several dozen laureates have worked on problems that pertain indirectly to adrenaline. At least 10 of the winners of the literature prize have also mentioned adrenaline in their offerings. A host of such diverting facts can be culled from the end notes, glossaries and further reading, which collectively constitute some 40% of this rather rambling work. A more readable book would have resulted had the numerous miscellanea been integrated into the main body of the text.


Dennis Rouvray is a freelance author and consultant based in Surrey, UK


Chemistry&Industry • November 2013 49


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