The Right Chemistry: The Jekyll and Hyde story of testosterone – Montreal Gazette

Bertholds simple interpretation was that the body was made up of parts, all of which are needed for proper functioning. He did not recognize that the testes may have been releasing chemicals into the bloodstream that stimulated activity elsewhere. Without realizing it, he had demonstrated the effect of hormones, a term coined in 1902 from the Greek for stir into action by English physiologists William Bayliss and Ernest Starling after they managed to isolate secretin, a protein released by the small intestine to stimulate pancreatic secretion.

Somewhat surprisingly, there were no follow-ups to Bertholds pioneering work until 1910, when Eugen Steinach in Vienna replicated the experiment in rats and demonstrated rejuvenation with implanted testes. One of his disciples, Serge Voronoff, hypothesized that what works in rats may work in men. Given that human testicle donors were hard to come by, he resorted to our closest relatives, chimps. Hundreds of men around the world received implanted animal testes with hopes of once again being able to chase chicks like Bertholds young cocks until in 1927 the Royal Society of Medicine stepped in and declared such transplants to be poppycock. Still, the infatuation with these rejuvenation schemes did pave the way for research that resulted in the isolation and subsequent synthesis of testosterone, the main male sex hormone now available to treat men with low levels. Unfortunately, it has also been abused by athletes looking to build muscle. Talk about a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde substance!

joe.schwarcz@mcgill.ca

Joe Schwarcz is director of McGill Universitys Office for Science & Society (mcgill.ca/oss). He hosts The Dr. Joe Show on CJAD Radio 800 AM every Sunday from 3 to 4 p.m.

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The Right Chemistry: The Jekyll and Hyde story of testosterone - Montreal Gazette