The contributions of Paul Ehrlich to infectious disease Gian Franco Gensini a,b , Andrea Alberto Conti a,b, *, Donatella Lippi c a Dipartimento di Area Critica Medico Chirurgica, Universita`degli Studi di Firenze, Firenze, Italy b Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, IRCCS Firenze, Firenze, Italy c Dipartimento di Anatomia, Istologia e Medicina Legale, Universita`degli Studi di Firenze, Firenze, Italy Accepted 5 May 2004 Available online 29 March 2006 KEYWORDS Paul Ehrlich; Chemotherapy; Immunology; Haematology; Syphilis; History of Medicine Summary Paul Ehrlich (1854e1915) is nowadays considered a pioneer in a number of medical fields, and in the course of time his role in the establishment and devel- opment of disciplines such as histology, immunology, oncology and haematology has been acknowledged. Aim of this historical note is to illustrate, in the area of chemotherapy, the special importance of this brilliant scientist whose 150th anni- versary of birth occurred in 2004. Already as a medical student, Ehrlich was obsessed by structural organic chemis- try and dyes, and, continually studying these issues, he elaborated his theory re- garding the discovery of a ‘‘magic bullet’’, able to specifically destroy tumour cells and micro-organisms. In practice he applied methylene blue to the treatment of malaria patients, following his intuition that such a dye could destroy parasites. However, his culminating achievements in the chemotherapic field, reached even at the expense of his health, were the concept of the one-dose treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection, and the creation of arsphenamine (compound 606, or Salvarsan), the first really effective compound in controlling human syphilis. Within the many and various contributions of Ehrlich to the development of experi- mental and clinical medicine, a special mention of his experimental studies and clinical applications in the area of chemotherapy is essential, since his achievements in this biomedical area remain a paramount legacy in the history of the therapy of infections. ª 2006 The British Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Paul Ehrlich (1854e1915) is nowadays consid- ered a pioneer in a number of medical fields, and in the course of time his role in the establishment and development of disciplines such as histology, 1 immunology, 2 oncology 3 and haematology 4 has been acknowledged. * Corresponding author. Dipartimento di Area Critica Medico Chirurgica, Universita` degli Studi di Firenze,Viale Morgagni 85, I-50134, Firenze, Italy. Tel.: þ39 055 417928; fax: þ39 055 4379384. E-mail address: aa.conti@dac.unifi.it (A.A. Conti). 0163-4453/$30 ª 2006 The British Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jinf.2004.05.022 Journal of Infection (2007) 54, 221e224 www.elsevierhealth.com/journals/jinf