Vasopressin, my best friend for life & Dr. Gary L. Robertson, the founder of the vasopressin world

[摘要] First of all, I would like to say that this article is not a scientific article but a personal essay. When I was still a medical student at Kobe University, there was a curriculum called an introductory research course in which everyone belonged to the basic labora‐ tory for half a year. Since I was aiming to be a clinician, I chose a pathology class that is close to the clinic. I started to learn about the pathological findings of the hypothalamus under the guidance of Dr. Kichihei Miyasaki in 1970. The case I was in charge of the analy‐ sis was a young woman with a brain tumor who pre‐ sented with brain dysfunction, visual field deficit, polydipsia and polyuria. As a medical student just 20 years old, I strongly felt that she regretted the ephemeral short life, and it was a burden to proceed with the patho‐ logical analysis of her brain. The task I was given was to measure the number of cells in the supraoptic nucleus and paraventricular nucleus in the hypothalamus. The purpose of the research was to understand the pathogenic mechanism of central diabetes insipidus that resulted in polydipsia and polyuria. I spent day after day by Nissl staining using continuous sections of the hypothalamus and counting the number of cells under a microscope. At the same time, I read a lot of papers in the library to learn more about central diabetes insipidus, but I never imagined that the vasopressin would be a best friend of my life.

[学科分类] 内分泌与代谢学