Julius Axelrod

Julius Axelrod is an American biochemist. He obtains the Nobel Prize of medicine in 1970, at the same time as Bernard Katz and Ulf von Euler, for his work on the Neurotransmetteur S Catécholamine. This research brought also much in the comprehension of the cycle of the sleep, and the role that there the Mélatonine secreted by the pineal Body plays.

Research

Analgesics

In 1946, under the direction of Bernard Brodie with the Goldwater Memorial Hospital , it continues research on the Analgésique S to circumvent the side effects of the Aspirine (Antiagrégant inter alia). They will lead, after having discovered the Acétanilide (), to propose one of these derivatives like substitute: the Paracetamol (4-acétylaminophénol).

Neuro-transmitters

In 1949 it starts has to work with the NIH (National Institutes off Health) on the mechanisms and the effects of the Caféine, which will lead it to study the Nervous system sympathetic nerve. It is interested more particularly in the neuro-transmitters of the type Catécholamine of which the Adrénaline, the Noradrénaline, but also the Codéine, the Morphine, the Méthamphétamine, the Éphédrine or on the LSD which it is one of the first studied.

The Nobel Prize which it receives in 1970 relates to its work on the release, recaptures it and the storage of adrenalin and noradrenalin. During its research on the Monoamine oxydase, he discovered that the action of these neuro-transmitters was not limited to a simple release, but that they were recaptured and reconditioned by the presynaptic neuron for the later uses. It was the base of the development of the selective inhibiting of recaptures serotonin.

The hormone of the sleep

With his colleagues, it showed that the Mélatonine is generated starting from the Tryptophane (like the Sérotonine), and that the secreted rates of mélatonine follow the biological rates/rhythms, under the direction of the Hypothalamus. Research continued until showing the role of the mélatonine on the whole of the central Nervous system, and to highlight that the pineal Body (which secretes it) acts like a biological clock.

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