Initial Thoughts about Serum Therapy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of History of Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran

2 Department of History of Medicine and Traditional medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Traditional Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Immunology has played a prominent role in the history of medicine and considerable research has been conducted to explore the history of this science. However, the use of blood serum to treat diseases in pre-medieval times lacks a well-documented history. Despite this knowledge gap, Emil Adolf von Behring is recognized for his groundbreaking discovery of serum therapy. Serum therapy involves the administration of animal or human blood serums as a means of combating infections, paving the way for more effective disease management in the medical field.
This research, citing the book, The Canon of Medicine, written by Avicenna, states that there is evidence suggesting that serum therapy can be seen much earlier than its use in the Western world. In the discussion of poisonous animal bites, Avicenna first states the significance of fortifying the immune system to protect the body. In Avicenna’s work on rabies, he states that if a patient bitten by a rabid dog eats the blood of the rabid dog that bit him, or eats the rabid dog’s liver and heart, or puts it on his wound, especially if the liver and heart belong to the same dog that bit him, the patient will be healed. This early exploration of utilizing animal-derived substances to combat disease may be regarded as an antecedent to contemporary serum therapy, which was later developed by Emil Adolf von Behring.
This research reveals that Islamic scholars, especially Avicenna, through their clinical and practical experiences, possessed knowledge of the immune system and serum therapy long before the discoveries of Edward Jenner and Emil Adolf von Behring. Consequently, they were able to successfully apply this knowledge in treating patients well before the formal recognition of these principles in Western medicine.

Keywords

References

  1. Abbas, A.K., Lichtman, A.H., and Pillai, Sh., 2019. Basic Immunology E-Book: Functions and Disorders of the Immune System. Elsevier Health Sciences.‏
  2. Avicenna, 1990. Al-qa ̄nu ̄n fi-l-tibb (Canon of Medicine). Vol. 7. New Delhi: Institute of History of Medicine and Medical Research.
  3. Beretta, C., 1891. On the use of dog’s serum in the treatment of tuberculosis. Br Med J, ii, pp. 1041–1042.
  4. Christian, H.A., 1944. The principles and practice of medicine. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company Inc.
  5. Glatman-Freedman, A., and Casadevall, A., 1998. Serum therapy for tuberculosis revisited: a reappraisal of the role of antibody-mediated immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Clin Microbiol Rev, 11(3), pp. 514-32. PMID: 9665981; PMCID: PMC88894.
  6. Hosseinzadeh, H., and Nassiri Asl, M., 2013. Avicenna’s (Ibn Sina) the canon of medicine and saffron (Crocus sativus): a review. Phytotherapy Research, 27(4), pp. 475-483.‏
  7. Hutchings, M.I., Truman, A.W., and Wilkinson, B., 2019. Antibiotics: past, present and future. Curr Opin Microbiol, 51, pp. 72-80. Doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2019.10.008. Epub 2019 Nov 13. PMID: 31733401
  8. Jafari, R., Ranjbar, A.R., and Farid Hosseini, R., 2019. A Biographical History of Some Iranian Pioneers in Medical Immunology and Allergy. Arch Iran Med, 22(6), pp. 344-352. PMID: 31356102.
  9. Kaufmann, S.H.E., 2019. Immunology’s Coming of Age. Front Immunol, 3(10), p. 684. Doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00684. Erratum in: Front Immunol. 2019 Jun 06; 10:1214. PMID: 31001278; PMCID: PMC6456699
  10. Kohler, G., and Milstein, C., 1975. Continuous cultures of fused cells secreting antibody of predefined specificity. Nature, 256, pp. 495-497.
  11. Poole, J., and Holladay, A., 1979. Thucydides and the plague of Athens. Class Q, 29, pp. 282-300.
  12. Sterner, C.S., 1948. A brief history of miasmic theory. Bull Hist Med, 22(1948), p. 747.
  13. Stiehm, E.R., and Johnston, R.B., 2005. A history of pediatric immunology. Pediatr Res, 57(3), pp. 458-467. Doi: 10.1203/01.PDR.0000151692.05422.4C. Epub 2004 Dec 20. PMID: 15611343.
  14. Taheri-Targhi, S., Gjedde, A., Araj-Khodaei, M., Rikhtegar, R., Parsian, Z., Zarrintan, S., and Vafaee, M.S., 2019. Avicenna (980–1037 CE) and his Early Description and Classification of Dementia. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 71(4), pp. 1093-1098.‏
  15. Winau, F., and Winau, R., 2002. Emil von Behring and serum therapy. Microbes and infection, 4(2), pp. 185-188.‏
  16. Zanchin, G., 1992. Considerations on “the sacred disease” by Hippocrates. J Hist Neurosci, 1(2), pp. 91-95. Doi: 10.1080/09647049209525520
Journal of Research on History of Medicine
Volume 13, Issue 2
May 2024
Pages 133-138

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics