Hata, Sahachiro

Syphilis treatment German physician Paul Ehrhch and Japanese physician Hata Sahachiro discover the effective treatment of arsphenamine (named Salvarsan by Ehrlich) for syphilis. 

For his new work with Treponema, Ehrlich was joined in 1909 by another Japanese collaborator, Sahachiro Hata, an expert on syphilis, who had been the first researcher to succeed in infecting rabbits with the disease. He retested all the arsenic derivatives against Treponema pallidum and identified compound 606 as a particularly potent analogue, which possessed curative activity for infected rabbits. Compound 606 had been prepared in 1907, but it had not exhibited any activity against trypanosomes, and Ehrlich subsequently claimed that this had been due to the incompetence of a former collaborator. This lapse and the problems with hypersensitivity reactions seen in some patients receiving arsenophenylglycine persuaded Ehrlich to proceed with great caution. As a result, very extensive animal tests were carried out before 606 was released to selected hospitals for clinical trials. 

Fig. 6.2 Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) and Sahachiro Hata (1873-1938), who together discovered the curative action of arsphenamine ( Salvarsan ) in syphilis.

Fig. 3.8 Arsphenamine or Salvarsan was developed by Paul Ehrlich and Sahachiro Hata in 1909 and was effective against syphilis. An improved version of this drug named Neosalvarsan was introduced 2 years later. (Copyright-free picture from http //www.paul-ehrlich.de/ img/Salvarsanl. gif)...

Salvarsan (606, Arsphenamine) is probably the most well-known organic compound of arsenic. It was first prepared by Sahachiro Hata and Paul Ehrlich in 1909, and was used as a cure of syphihs and sleeping sickness imtil penicillin was discovered. An infamous organic substance containing arsenic is the chemical weapon Lewisite, which is very toxic and is readily absorbed through skin (Fig. 4.3). 

Svante August Arrhenius, 1859-1927, Swedish physicist and chemist, was a professor of chemistry in Stockholm. His electrolytic theory of dissociation was advanced in 1884-87. In 1903 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered to the advancement of chemistry by his electrolytic theory of dissociation. In 1909 he was elected director of the Nobel Institute in Stockholm. Together with Paul Ehrlich, he studied the toxins and antitoxins. Paul Ehrlich and Sahachiro Hata discovered salvarsan Ehrlich (1854-1938) shared with Ilja IljiC MeCnikov (1845-1916) the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1908. 

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