Maurício Rocha e Silva
Encyclopedia
Maurício Oscar da Rocha e Silva (September 19, 1910, Rio de Janeiro
– December 19, 1983, Ribeirão Preto
, Brazil
) was a Brazilian physician
, biomedical scientist
and pharmacologist. He discovered bradykinin
, an endogenous
polypeptide involved in the physiology
, pharmacology
and pathology
of blood pressure
control and many other phenomena related to the contraction of smooth muscle
s.
, João Olavo da Rocha e Silva. He studied at the Faculty of Medicine
of the University of Brazil (later Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
), lecturing in high schools while he was a student in order to support himself. Shortly after graduation he moved in 1937 to São Paulo, and was hired by the Instituto Biológico
(Biological Institute), a state research institution. From 1940 to 1941, Rocha e Silva won a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
to go to London
, England
, where he studied and worked with Heinz Schild at the University College London
. In 1942 he returned to the Instituto Biológico and continued his research line on the role of histamine
in the effects of animal venoms. At the Institute, he was soon appointed as the chairman of the Section of Biochemistry
and Pharmacodynamics
, a position he held until 1957. In that year, Rocha e Silva was invited to be the chairman of the Department of Pharmacology of the recently created Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto
of the University of São Paulo, in the city of Ribeirão Preto
, state of São Paulo
, a position he held until his mandatory retirement in 1980. His health condition worsened shortly thereafter, and he died on December 19, 1983, at the age of 73.
Rocha e Silva was one of the greatest scientific and academic leaders of recent history in Brazil. In 1948, with a group of fellow scientists, such as José Reis
, Paulo Sawaya and Gastão Rosenfeld
, he founded the Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência
(SBPC - Brazilian Society of the Advancement of Science), similar in scope and philosophy to its British
and American
(AAAS) counterparts. He was to become three times president of SBPC and its lifetime honorary president. Rocha e Silva was also a founding member of the Brazilian Society of Physiology
, in 1957; and of the Brazilian Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, in 1966 (to which he served as president from 1966 to 1981). In 1967 he won the Moinho Santista Award (the highest scientific decoration at the time in Brazil) as well as the National Award of Science and Technology from the National Research Council (CNPq). He was also a vice-president of the International Union of Pharmacology.
and Gastão Rosenfeld
, Rocha e Silva discovered in 1948 the powerful hypotensive effects of bradykinin
in animal preparations. Bradykinin was detected in the plasma of animals after the addition of venom of Bothrops jararaca
(Brazilian lancehead snake), which was brought by Rosenfeld from the Butantan Institute, in São Paulo, Brazil
. This discovery was part of a continuing study on circulatory shock and proteolytic
enzymes related to the toxicology of snake
bites, started by Rocha e Silva as early as 1939. Bradykinin was to be proved a new autopharmacological principle, i.e., a substance that is released in the body by a metabolic modification from precursors, which are pharmacologically active. According to B.J. Hagwood, Rocha e Silva's biographer, "The discovery of bradykinin has led to a new understanding of many physiological and pathological phenomena including circulatory shock induced by venoms and toxins."
The practical importance of the discovery of bradykinin became apparent when one of his collaborators at Ribeirão Preto, Sérgio Henrique Ferreira
, discovered a bradykinin potentiating factor (BPF) in the bothropic venom which increases powerfully both the duration and magnitude of its effects on vasodilation
and the consequent fall in blood pressure
. On the basis of this finding, Squibb scientists developed the first of a new generation of highly-effective anti-hypertensive drugs
, the so-called ACE inhibitors, such as captopril
(trademarked Capoten), which have been saving many lives since.
Rocha e Silva had many interests besides scientific research and pharmacology. He was an accomplished amateur painter and a writer
of fiction and non-fiction. He was interested in the public understanding of science
, and wrote articles and books to the general public. He was also one of the founders of "Ciência e Cultura
", the science magazine of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science
(SBPC).
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
– December 19, 1983, Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto is a municipality and city in the Northeastern region of the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is nicknamed Brazilian California, because of a combination of an economy based on agrobusiness plus high technology, wealth and sunny weather all year long. With 605,114 inhabitants,...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
) was a Brazilian physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, biomedical scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
and pharmacologist. He discovered bradykinin
Bradykinin
Bradykinin is a peptide that causes blood vessels to dilate , and therefore causes blood pressure to lower. A class of drugs called ACE inhibitors, which are used to lower blood pressure, increase bradykinin further lowering blood pressure...
, an endogenous
Endogenous
Endogenous substances are those that originate from within an organism, tissue, or cell. Endogenous retroviruses are caused by ancient infections of germ cells in humans, mammals and other vertebrates...
polypeptide involved in the physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
, pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
and pathology
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
of blood pressure
Blood pressure
Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...
control and many other phenomena related to the contraction of smooth muscle
Smooth muscle
Smooth muscle is an involuntary non-striated muscle. It is divided into two sub-groups; the single-unit and multiunit smooth muscle. Within single-unit smooth muscle tissues, the autonomic nervous system innervates a single cell within a sheet or bundle and the action potential is propagated by...
s.
Life
Rocha e Silva was the son of a psychiatristPsychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, João Olavo da Rocha e Silva. He studied at the Faculty of Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
of the University of Brazil (later Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro is one of the largest federal universities of Brazil, where public universities comprise the majority of the best and most qualified institutions...
), lecturing in high schools while he was a student in order to support himself. Shortly after graduation he moved in 1937 to São Paulo, and was hired by the Instituto Biológico
Instituto Biológico
Biological Institute is an applied research center organised in 1924 in São Paulo, Brazil. It is a governmental organisation concerned with the prevention of zoonoses and foodborne animal pathogens such as rabies and tuberculosis, sanitary advertisement campaigns, alternatives to the chemical...
(Biological Institute), a state research institution. From 1940 to 1941, Rocha e Silva won a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
to go to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where he studied and worked with Heinz Schild at the University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. In 1942 he returned to the Instituto Biológico and continued his research line on the role of histamine
Histamine
Histamine is an organic nitrogen compound involved in local immune responses as well as regulating physiological function in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter. Histamine triggers the inflammatory response. As part of an immune response to foreign pathogens, histamine is produced by...
in the effects of animal venoms. At the Institute, he was soon appointed as the chairman of the Section of Biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
and Pharmacodynamics
Pharmacodynamics
Pharmacodynamics is the study of the biochemical and physiological effects of drugs on the body or on microorganisms or parasites within or on the body and the mechanisms of drug action and the relationship between drug concentration and effect...
, a position he held until 1957. In that year, Rocha e Silva was invited to be the chairman of the Department of Pharmacology of the recently created Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto
Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto
Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto is a medical school of the University of São Paulo located in the city of Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo, Brazil, founded 1952...
of the University of São Paulo, in the city of Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto is a municipality and city in the Northeastern region of the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is nicknamed Brazilian California, because of a combination of an economy based on agrobusiness plus high technology, wealth and sunny weather all year long. With 605,114 inhabitants,...
, state of São Paulo
São Paulo (state)
São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...
, a position he held until his mandatory retirement in 1980. His health condition worsened shortly thereafter, and he died on December 19, 1983, at the age of 73.
Rocha e Silva was one of the greatest scientific and academic leaders of recent history in Brazil. In 1948, with a group of fellow scientists, such as José Reis
José Reis
José Reis was a noted Brazilian scientist, journalist, scientific leader and science writer....
, Paulo Sawaya and Gastão Rosenfeld
Gastão Rosenfeld
Gastão Rosenfeld , was a Brazilian physician and biomedical scientist, one of the co-discoverers of bradykinin, together with Maurício Rocha e Silva and Wilson Teixeira Beraldo, in 1949....
, he founded the Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência
Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência
Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência is a Brazilian scientific society created in 1948 by several prominent scientists, with the aim of promoting science, culture and education in the country by means of publications, conferences and political actions on behalf of science's advancement...
(SBPC - Brazilian Society of the Advancement of Science), similar in scope and philosophy to its British
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
and American
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
(AAAS) counterparts. He was to become three times president of SBPC and its lifetime honorary president. Rocha e Silva was also a founding member of the Brazilian Society of Physiology
Brazilian Society of Physiology
The Brazilian Society of Physiology is a learned society and association of students and professionals in physiology in Brazil. It is a member of the Brazilian Federation of Experimental Biology Societies and of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science...
, in 1957; and of the Brazilian Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, in 1966 (to which he served as president from 1966 to 1981). In 1967 he won the Moinho Santista Award (the highest scientific decoration at the time in Brazil) as well as the National Award of Science and Technology from the National Research Council (CNPq). He was also a vice-president of the International Union of Pharmacology.
Work
Together with colleagues Wilson Teixeira BeraldoWilson Teixeira Beraldo
Wilson Teixeira Beraldo was a Brazilian physician and physiologist, a co-discoverer of bradykinin....
and Gastão Rosenfeld
Gastão Rosenfeld
Gastão Rosenfeld , was a Brazilian physician and biomedical scientist, one of the co-discoverers of bradykinin, together with Maurício Rocha e Silva and Wilson Teixeira Beraldo, in 1949....
, Rocha e Silva discovered in 1948 the powerful hypotensive effects of bradykinin
Bradykinin
Bradykinin is a peptide that causes blood vessels to dilate , and therefore causes blood pressure to lower. A class of drugs called ACE inhibitors, which are used to lower blood pressure, increase bradykinin further lowering blood pressure...
in animal preparations. Bradykinin was detected in the plasma of animals after the addition of venom of Bothrops jararaca
Bothrops jararaca
Bothrops jararaca is a venomous pit viper species found in southern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina. The species name is derived from the Tupi words yarará and ca, which means "large snake." Within its range it is often abundant and is an important cause of snakebite...
(Brazilian lancehead snake), which was brought by Rosenfeld from the Butantan Institute, in São Paulo, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. This discovery was part of a continuing study on circulatory shock and proteolytic
Proteolysis
Proteolysis is the directed degradation of proteins by cellular enzymes called proteases or by intramolecular digestion.-Purposes:Proteolysis is used by the cell for several purposes...
enzymes related to the toxicology of snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
bites, started by Rocha e Silva as early as 1939. Bradykinin was to be proved a new autopharmacological principle, i.e., a substance that is released in the body by a metabolic modification from precursors, which are pharmacologically active. According to B.J. Hagwood, Rocha e Silva's biographer, "The discovery of bradykinin has led to a new understanding of many physiological and pathological phenomena including circulatory shock induced by venoms and toxins."
The practical importance of the discovery of bradykinin became apparent when one of his collaborators at Ribeirão Preto, Sérgio Henrique Ferreira
Sérgio Henrique Ferreira
Sérgio Henrique Ferreira , Brazil, Brazilian physician and pharmacologist, noted for his discovery of Bradykinin potentiating factor, which led to better anti-hypertension drugs.Ferreira received his M.D...
, discovered a bradykinin potentiating factor (BPF) in the bothropic venom which increases powerfully both the duration and magnitude of its effects on vasodilation
Vasodilation
Vasodilation refers to the widening of blood vessels resulting from relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, particularly in the large arteries, smaller arterioles and large veins. The process is essentially the opposite of vasoconstriction, or the narrowing of blood vessels. When...
and the consequent fall in blood pressure
Blood pressure
Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...
. On the basis of this finding, Squibb scientists developed the first of a new generation of highly-effective anti-hypertensive drugs
Hypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...
, the so-called ACE inhibitors, such as captopril
Captopril
Captopril is an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor used for the treatment of hypertension and some types of congestive heart failure. Captopril was the first ACE inhibitor developed and was considered a breakthrough both because of its novel mechanism of action and also because of the...
(trademarked Capoten), which have been saving many lives since.
Rocha e Silva had many interests besides scientific research and pharmacology. He was an accomplished amateur painter and a writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
of fiction and non-fiction. He was interested in the public understanding of science
Public understanding of science
Public understanding of science may refer to:* Public Understanding of Science , an academic journal* Public awareness of science...
, and wrote articles and books to the general public. He was also one of the founders of "Ciência e Cultura
Ciência e Cultura
Ciência e Cultura is a science magazine published by the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science .- History :...
", the science magazine of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science
Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência
Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência is a Brazilian scientific society created in 1948 by several prominent scientists, with the aim of promoting science, culture and education in the country by means of publications, conferences and political actions on behalf of science's advancement...
(SBPC).
External links
- Barros de Carvalho, R.: Maurício Rocha e Silva. Remarkable Persons in Brazilian Science. Brazilian Institute of Science and Technology (in Portuguese).