Department of Pharmacology of the Imperial Medical and Surgical (Military Medical) Academy: History of the second century of existence (1899–2000)

Abstract

The study presents the history of the development of the Department of Pharmacology of Medical and Surgical (since 1881 Military Medical) Academy with an emphasis on the second century of its existence (18992000). This period was marked by the improvement of both the teaching of the discipline, based on new pharmacological data, and the introduction of new methods of drug research. A significant event was the release of a two-volume edition of N.P. Kravkovs Fundamentals of Pharmacology in 19041905, which was based on the introduction of the latest achievements of scientific knowledge in the field of pharmacology. The textbook N.P. Kravkov withstood 14 editions (the last one was published in 1936, 12 years after the authors death) and served as a model for the creation of all subsequent domestic textbooks and manuals on pharmacology in the 20th century. In experimental pharmacology, the method of isolated organs (N.P. Kravkov et al.) has been widely used as a universal method for quantifying pharmacological effects. In the 1920s, ideas about the synaptic effect of drugs were actively introduced (S.V. Anichkov et al.), and the effects of N-cholinergic drugs realized through the sinocarotid zone of the carotid artery were discovered and studied. Biochemical studies began to be widely used, which started with the works of N.P. Kravkov and continued by N.V. Lazarev, V.M. Vinogradov, and A.V. Smirnov. Clinical pharmacology was created and promoted after the discovery and first use of the intravenous anesthetic hedonal (N.P. Kravkov), particularly developed in the studies by N.V. Lazarev and V.M. Vinogradov. New ideas about antihypoxants and actoprotectors were formulated (V.M. Vinogradov) to increase combat capability and was successfully used in military pharmacology at the end of the 20th century (V.M. Vinogradov and A.V. Smirnov). Therefore, with these achievements, the department has succeeded in both the academic and scientific fields.