Румыниялық ғалым Николае Паулеску және диабетке қарсы зерттеулер

Romanian academic

Nicolae Constantin Paulescu (; 30 October 1869 (O. S.) – 17 July 1931) was a Romanian physiologist, professor of medicine, and politician, most famous for his work on diabetes, including patenting pancreine (a pancreatic extract containing insulin). The "pancreine" was an extract of bovine pancreas in salted water, after which some impurites were removed with hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. Paulescu was also, with A. C. Cuza, co founder of the National Christian Union and later, of the National Christian Defense League in Romania. He was also a leading member of the Iron Guard.

Born in Bucharest, he was the first of four children of Costache and Maria Paulescu. He displayed remarkable abilities as early as his first school years. He learned French, Latin and Ancient Greek at an early age, so that a few years later he became fluent in all these languages and was able to read classical works of Latin and Greek literature in the original. He also had a particular gift for drawing and music and special inclinations towards natural sciences, such as physics and chemistry. He graduated from the Mihai Viteazul High School in Bucharest in 1888. In the autumn of 1888, Paulescu left for Paris, where he enrolled in medical school, where he studied with, among others, Étienne Lancereaux. In 1897 he graduated with a Doctor of Medicine degree, with thesis Recherches sur la structure de la rate. At the same time he studied chemistry and physiology at the Faculty of Science of the University of Paris, and also obtained a doctorate in science.

Upon receiving his M. D., Paulescu was immediately appointed as assistant surgeon at the Notre Dame du Perpétuel Secours Hospital in Paris. In 1900, Paulescu returned to Romania, where he remained until his death (1931) as Head of the Physiology Department of the University of Bucharest Medical School, as well as a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the St. Vincent de Paul Hospital in Bucharest.

In February 1922, doctor Frederick Banting and biochemist John Macleod from the University of Toronto, Canada, published their paper on the successful use of a different, alcohol based pancreatic extract for normalizing blood sugar (glucose) levels (glycemia) in a human patient. An unsuccessful attempt had been made on 11 January 1922, and a successful administration followed on 25 January 1922. The Toronto team felt confident in the purity of their insulin and injected it intravenously into the patient, clearing up his glycosuria and ketonuria and restoring normal blood sugar. Paulescu's 1921 papers mentioned that the extract caused toxic side effects on dogs, which made it unusable in humans ("qui la rendent inapplicable dans la pratique médicale"). Therefore, when he tested his pancreatic extract on humans on 25 February 1922, he administered the extract rectally. The patients seemed to show some reduction in glycosuria. This apparent success emboldened him to inject his extract intravenously into a diabetic patient on 24 March, after which the patient's blood sugar apparently fell to zero (".000", "véritable AGLYCÉMIE"). A blood sugar level of zero should have placed the patient into a hypoglycemic coma, but he made no mention of this effect in any of his papers. In contrast, the Toronto team had known for several months that dogs could be placed into a diabetic coma by an overdose of insulin, so they prepared orange juice and candy for the clinical trials.</blockquote>

"In a recent private communication Professor Tiselius, head of the Nobel Institute, has expressed his personal opinion that Paulesco was equally worthy of the award in 1923."

Paulescu died in Bucharest in 1931. He is buried in Bellu Cemetery. In 1990, he was elected posthumously as member of the Romanian Academy. In 1993, the Institute of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases in Bucharest was named in his honour (Institutul de Diabet, Nutriţie şi Boli Metabolice "N. C. Paulescu"). The institute was renamed on 3 March 1993, by the Ministry of Health Decree no. 273, at the initiative of Prof. Dr. Iulian Mincu. On 27 June 1993, in Cluj Napoca, a postmark was dedicated in Paulescu's honour as part of celebrating the World Day Against Diabetes. Paulescu was also honoured on a postage stamp issued by Romania in 1994. The stamp is one in a set of seven stamps honouring famous Romanians.