[Endocrinology: lessons from the past, hopes for the future]

The social importance of endocrinology is apparent from an analysis of the prevalence of endocrinopathies in the CSSR. They affect (incl. diabetes and eufunctional goitre) some 10% of the population. The author submits a brief account of the development of knowledge of hormones and of Nobel prizes awarded for hormone research. On some examples he demonstrates the importance of endocrinology for other medical disciplines: the interrelationship of stress and infectious reactions via interleukin 1, the discovery of a series of new growth and immune factors; the participation TNF (cachectin, tumour necrosis factor) in pathological processes (tumours, atherosclerosis); vasoactive peptides EDRF (endothelium derived relaxation factor), endothelin (vasoconstriction), GM-CSF (granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor) in treatment of radiation sickness and adjuvans in chemotherapy; interleukins. These new peptide hormones are words in the complex cellular signal alphabet the importance of which in the control of cellular activities we are beginning to understand.