Genitalia and Infertility - Journal of the Association of Physicians of

134
Journal of the association of physicians of india • vol 63 • march, 2015
Genitalia and Infertility
Federica Guaraldi*, Renato Pasquali*
Fig. 1: Karl Rokitansky.
Austria, 1954
Fig. 5: Adolf F.J. Butenandt.
Gambia, 1995
Fig. 2: Charles Eduard Brown Sequard.
Republic of Mauritius, 1994
Fig. 6 : First day cover. Percy
Lavon Julian. USA, 1993
Fig. 3: Julius Tandler. Austria,
1986
Fig. 7: Carl Djerassi. Austria, 2005
K
arl Rokitansky (1804 – 1878) (Figure
1) studied the polycystic tumours
of the ovaries and described a syndrome
characterised by vaginal aplasia associated
with other mullerian duct abnormalities
(Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome).
*
Endocrinology Unit,
Department of Clinical
Medicine, S. Orsola-Malpighi
General Hospital, Bologna,
Italy, 40138
In 1889, at the age of 70, Charles Eduard
Brown Sequard (1817-1894) (Figure 2)
injected himself animals’ testicles extracts,
testing their virilizing effects. Julius Tandler
(1869-1936) (Figure 3) deeply studied female
reproductive system and described the effect
of castration in the postpuberal age. George
Nicolas Papanicolaou (1883-1962) (Figure 4)
understood the cellular and hormonal (i.e.
oestrogens levels) changes during female cycle.
In 1939 Adolf F.J. Butenandt (1903-1955)
(Figure 5) and Lavoslav S. Ruzicka (18871976) won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
for the isolation of the pure, crystalline
Fig. 4: George Nicolas
Papanicolaou. Greece, 1973
Fig. 8: Awareness about adolescents
reproductive health. Mexico, 1997
form of oestrone and androsterone. One
year later, Percy Lavon Julian (1899-1975)
(Figure 6) synthesised male and female
sexual hormones from vegetal stigmasterols
and sitosterols, isolated from soybean oil
and started producing them in industrial
quantities, reducing the costs for the treatment
of hormonal deficiencies.
In 1952 Carl Djerassi (1923 -) (Figure 7)
synthesised norethindrone that became part of
the first successful combined oral contraceptive
pill, that was for the first time administered to
animals by Gregory Pincus (1903-1967).
To date, even if great chances are offered to
patients by hormonal replacement therapies
and assisted fertilization’s techniques, sterility
continues to be a major health problem (Figure
8) that concerns different medical fields, such
as Endocrinology, Gynaecology and Urology.