[Discovery of mineralocorticoid hormones]

In 1855, the clinical and anatomical observations of Thomas Addison brought the pathology of the adrenal glands to the attention of his fellow physicians. His description had such an impact that Trousseau proposed to call this condition by Addison's name. On the basis of experimental finding, Brown-Séquard declared that the "adrenal glands play an essential role in the preservation of life". Many therapeutic trials were made in vain to slow down the fatal course of the disease. The discovery of deoxycorticosterone by T. Reichstein in 1939 ensured the survival of patients with Addison's disease. Its treatment greatly improved when cortisone became available and could be associated with desoxycorticosterone. The Nobel prize for physiology and medicine was awarded to the authors of these important discoveries: two biochemists (E.C. Kendall and T. Reichstein) for their work on the adrenocortical hormones, and a rheumatologist (P.S. Henck) for the therapeutic use of cortisone. In 1955, T. Reichstein actively participated in the isolation and the synthesis of aldosterone, a powerful mineralocorticoid, the last hormone of the adrenal cortex to be discovered.