Edmund Kornfeld
Encyclopedia
Edmund Carl Kornfeld is an American Organic Chemist who devoted his life to the research of new drugs. His leading discovery, with the help of a team, was a unique compound that was designated as 05865, which was later known as Vancomycin
. Edmund Kornfeld received his PhD in chemistry from Harvard in 1944 and subsequently joined Eli Lilly
Company, in Indianapolis, US. It was there, where most of his discoveries took place.
In the 1870s, several observers reported that Penicillium
mold found on oranges and jam, which produced a substance with antibacterial properties. In 1928, Alexander Fleming
, a biologist, isolated the substance, which he named Penicillin
. However, it was fourteen years later that Penicillin
was first employed with a clinical use. By 1944, the miracle drug became widely available.
By 1948s, Penicillin
, the miracle drug, was losing its power due to its overuse. It was during this time that several cases of Staphylococcus aureus
resistant to Penicillin
were reported in hospitals. By the 1950s, people who were treated with Penicillin
would get infected with Staphylococcus aureus
and thus making the prior infection worse.
In 1953, Edmund Carl Kornfeld and his team isolated an unknown microbe, Streptomyces orientalis
, which was found on soils examples from Borneo
. This new microbe produced a unique compound designated as 05865. The properties of this in vitro
were remarkable. The antibiotic killed all staphy-lococci, including the penicillin-resistant strains causing havoc in hospitals. The drug’s ability to inhibit straphylococci was very stable during pivotal assays, suggesting that the agent might be clinically useful for a long period of time. The compound 05865 had chloramphenicol
, tetracycline and other agents, which were unavailable in Penicillin
, .
One of the most difficult tasks that Kornfeld and his team faced was purifying the compound 05865. The purification method employed during that time was with the use of picric acid
, a potentially explosive chemical; because of this an alternate process was developed. However, this new method yielded material with a purity of only 82% and when solubilized, produced a brown liquid aptly termed which they called “Mississippi mud”. However, due to the dire need, the initial preparations were felt to be safe enough for use in humans.
The first human trial was in 1950. The drug was given to a patient that had developed a severe infection on his foot after surgery. He was under large doses of all antibiotics alone and in combination, however, no improvements were seen. Some studies done on his leg showed that the staphylococci was immune to all of the antibiotics. The surgical staff recommended amputation or the usage of the new antibiotic. His answer was ‘ Anything that might save my foot’. Due to the spread of the bacteria, a high dosage the antibiotic of 05865 was recommended ,100mg every eight hours, over five days. After the first day, the heat was decreasing, his white cell count was dropping and the exudate of his wound was less. During the next seven days, the staphylococci disappeared from the wound, and his foot was free from any sign of infection. Two months later he left the hospital with an intact foot.
Because of such dramatic result and the hope put on the new drug that it will vanquish staphylococcal disease, the drug was named Vancomycin
.
After the word spread out that Eli Lilly
Company had develop a new drug that inhibited staphylococci. The company began to receive appeals for help in desperate cases of staph infection, that had not responded to other antibiotics such as meningitis
, pneumonia
, septicemia and endocarditis
. They received order during the night and weekends.
There was a great need for the drug in 1956 that it was sent throughout the country. Another astonishing case was of a 11 month baby that had contracted a staphylococci that was resistant to all the antibiotics and even in combination. Aftr 500 mg of Vancomycin
into the jugular vein and 1 gram over the next 36 hours, the baby was cured. In 1958, the FDA approved Vancomycin
for use.
Publisher: Harvard University, 1945.
The Total Synthesis of Lysergic Acid.
Edmund C. Kornfeld, E. J. Fornefeld, G. Bruce Kline, Marjorie J. Mann, Dwight E. Morrison, Reuben G. Jones, R. B. Woodward.
Vancomycin
Vancomycin INN is a glycopeptide antibiotic used in the prophylaxis and treatment of infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria. It has traditionally been reserved as a drug of "last resort", used only after treatment with other antibiotics had failed, although the emergence of...
. Edmund Kornfeld received his PhD in chemistry from Harvard in 1944 and subsequently joined Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...
Company, in Indianapolis, US. It was there, where most of his discoveries took place.
In the 1870s, several observers reported that Penicillium
Penicillium
Penicillium is a genus of ascomycetous fungi of major importance in the natural environment as well as food and drug production. Members of the genus produce penicillin, a molecule that is used as an antibiotic, which kills or stops the growth of certain kinds of bacteria inside the body...
mold found on oranges and jam, which produced a substance with antibacterial properties. In 1928, Alexander Fleming
Alexander Fleming
Sir Alexander Fleming was a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist. He wrote many articles on bacteriology, immunology, and chemotherapy...
, a biologist, isolated the substance, which he named Penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
. However, it was fourteen years later that Penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
was first employed with a clinical use. By 1944, the miracle drug became widely available.
By 1948s, Penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
, the miracle drug, was losing its power due to its overuse. It was during this time that several cases of Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative anaerobic Gram-positive coccal bacterium. It is frequently found as part of the normal skin flora on the skin and nasal passages. It is estimated that 20% of the human population are long-term carriers of S. aureus. S. aureus is the most common species of...
resistant to Penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
were reported in hospitals. By the 1950s, people who were treated with Penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
would get infected with Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus is a facultative anaerobic Gram-positive coccal bacterium. It is frequently found as part of the normal skin flora on the skin and nasal passages. It is estimated that 20% of the human population are long-term carriers of S. aureus. S. aureus is the most common species of...
and thus making the prior infection worse.
In 1953, Edmund Carl Kornfeld and his team isolated an unknown microbe, Streptomyces orientalis
Streptomyces orientalis
Streptomyces orientalis is a bacterium. It is considered an Actinobacterium species. Streptomyces orientalis are responsible for sore throat infections and wound infections in humans, and are also a significant cause of morbidity in goat populations....
, which was found on soils examples from Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
. This new microbe produced a unique compound designated as 05865. The properties of this in vitro
In vitro
In vitro refers to studies in experimental biology that are conducted using components of an organism that have been isolated from their usual biological context in order to permit a more detailed or more convenient analysis than can be done with whole organisms. Colloquially, these experiments...
were remarkable. The antibiotic killed all staphy-lococci, including the penicillin-resistant strains causing havoc in hospitals. The drug’s ability to inhibit straphylococci was very stable during pivotal assays, suggesting that the agent might be clinically useful for a long period of time. The compound 05865 had chloramphenicol
Chloramphenicol
Chloramphenicol is a bacteriostatic antimicrobial that became available in 1949. It is considered a prototypical broad-spectrum antibiotic, alongside the tetracyclines, and as it is both cheap and easy to manufacture it is frequently found as a drug of choice in the third world.Chloramphenicol is...
, tetracycline and other agents, which were unavailable in Penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
, .
One of the most difficult tasks that Kornfeld and his team faced was purifying the compound 05865. The purification method employed during that time was with the use of picric acid
Picric acid
Picric acid is the chemical compound formally called 2,4,6-trinitrophenol . This yellow crystalline solid is one of the most acidic phenols. Like other highly nitrated compounds such as TNT, picric acid is an explosive...
, a potentially explosive chemical; because of this an alternate process was developed. However, this new method yielded material with a purity of only 82% and when solubilized, produced a brown liquid aptly termed which they called “Mississippi mud”. However, due to the dire need, the initial preparations were felt to be safe enough for use in humans.
The first human trial was in 1950. The drug was given to a patient that had developed a severe infection on his foot after surgery. He was under large doses of all antibiotics alone and in combination, however, no improvements were seen. Some studies done on his leg showed that the staphylococci was immune to all of the antibiotics. The surgical staff recommended amputation or the usage of the new antibiotic. His answer was ‘ Anything that might save my foot’. Due to the spread of the bacteria, a high dosage the antibiotic of 05865 was recommended ,100mg every eight hours, over five days. After the first day, the heat was decreasing, his white cell count was dropping and the exudate of his wound was less. During the next seven days, the staphylococci disappeared from the wound, and his foot was free from any sign of infection. Two months later he left the hospital with an intact foot.
Because of such dramatic result and the hope put on the new drug that it will vanquish staphylococcal disease, the drug was named Vancomycin
Vancomycin
Vancomycin INN is a glycopeptide antibiotic used in the prophylaxis and treatment of infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria. It has traditionally been reserved as a drug of "last resort", used only after treatment with other antibiotics had failed, although the emergence of...
.
After the word spread out that Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...
Company had develop a new drug that inhibited staphylococci. The company began to receive appeals for help in desperate cases of staph infection, that had not responded to other antibiotics such as meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
, pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, septicemia and endocarditis
Endocarditis
Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves . Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or even on intracardiac devices...
. They received order during the night and weekends.
There was a great need for the drug in 1956 that it was sent throughout the country. Another astonishing case was of a 11 month baby that had contracted a staphylococci that was resistant to all the antibiotics and even in combination. Aftr 500 mg of Vancomycin
Vancomycin
Vancomycin INN is a glycopeptide antibiotic used in the prophylaxis and treatment of infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria. It has traditionally been reserved as a drug of "last resort", used only after treatment with other antibiotics had failed, although the emergence of...
into the jugular vein and 1 gram over the next 36 hours, the baby was cured. In 1958, the FDA approved Vancomycin
Vancomycin
Vancomycin INN is a glycopeptide antibiotic used in the prophylaxis and treatment of infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria. It has traditionally been reserved as a drug of "last resort", used only after treatment with other antibiotics had failed, although the emergence of...
for use.
Published books
Condensation of heterocyclic bases with acetylene dicarboxylic ester.Publisher: Harvard University, 1945.
The Total Synthesis of Lysergic Acid.
Edmund C. Kornfeld, E. J. Fornefeld, G. Bruce Kline, Marjorie J. Mann, Dwight E. Morrison, Reuben G. Jones, R. B. Woodward.
External Links
- "Views of Scientists on the Existence of God - The Review of Religions." The Review of Religions » Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2011. http://www.reviewofreligions.org/1493/views-of-scientists-on-the-existence-of-god
- L. Esposito, Anthony. "That Which Endures: The Quiet Heroes of Medical Discovery." www.wdms.org. Version Volume 75. Anthony L. Esposito, MD, FACP, 1 June 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. http://www.wdms.org/html/womed_jul-aug11/womed_jul-aug11.pdf
- Spink LW. Clinical and biologic significance of penicillin resistant staphylo- cocci, including observations with streptomycin, aureomycin, chlorampheni- col and terramycin. J Lab Clin Med 1951;37:278-93.
- Cooper GL and Given DB. Vancomycin: A comprehensive review of 30 years of clinical experience. New York, NY, Park Row Publishers, Inc., 1986.
- "Philosophy, Science, Faith, and the Existence of God - Page 5." emosbulletin.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2011. http://emosbulletin.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71%3Aapril-2006&catid=6%3Abulletin&Itemid=2&limitstart=4>
- "The journal of organic chemistry." pubs.acs.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2011. http://pubs.acs.org/toc/joceah/16/1