.jpg "The discovery of Penicillin")
In 1895, the Italian doctor Vincenzo Tiberio published a study done at the University of Naples, where he spoke of a particular spicie of mold that he had noticed on a well near his home in Arzano. In 1929, Alexander Fleming observed that bacterial growth was
blocked on a culture plate contaminated with mold and in this way he discovered Penicillin G from which all the variants that are produced today.
blocked on a culture plate contaminated with mold and in this way he discovered Penicillin G from which all the variants that are produced today.
Initially, the Penicillin had to be salified in order to be administered with intravenous injections but this treatment made it extremely painful and caustic, also its water solubility did not allow a homogeneous distribution in the body, in fact it was necessary to make the injections every 4 hours. In the following years, the characteristics of Penicillin were improved, it was first esterified with the procacina and then with benzathine so the interval between two doses was dilated to 48 hours.
Then the formula was modified until the discovery of Penicillin V administered also orally. However, only since 1941 this medicine was used against bacterial infections and in 1943 it was produced on an industrial scale by the United States to treat the wounded of World War II. These events completely changed the world of medicine and gave a great impetus to the modern pharmacotherapy.
Thanks to the discovery of Penicillin, Alexander Fleming won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1945.