The scientific school of pharmacology of S.V. Anichkov, an academician of the USSR academy of medical sciences

Sergei V. Anichkov (1892–1981) is a Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, and laureate of the Lenin and USSR State Prizes, led the Department of Pharmacology at the Institute of Experimental Medicine from 1948 to 1981. Initially, the department comprised three laboratories with a limited staff. To advance research, Anichkov, who headed the Department of Pharmacology at the Sanitary and Hygienic Medical Institute, brought together the resources of this Department and the Department of Pharmacology of the Institute of Experimental Medicine, further expanding them, primarily through the addition of postgraduate students such as S.S. Krylov, P.P. Denisenko, V.G. Startsev, V.E. Ryzhenkov, Yu.S. Borodkin, I.S. Zavodskaya, and others. Anichkov established a scientific school of pharmacologists, and many significant achievements of the Department of Pharmacology at the Institute of Experimental Medicine are associated with his name. Young postgraduate students, passionate about research work, became the first or senior disciples and followers of the scientific school of pharmacology of academician Anichkov. Clinical and experimental studies conducted on the use of neurotropic agents for the treatment of gastroduodenal and cardiovascular disorders made it possible to propose a fundamentally new approach to treating peptic ulcer disease, ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, and tonsillogenic cardiopathies, depending on specific conditions and stages of the disease. It was substantiated that the administration of neuroblockers to patients is advisable only in the acute phase of the disease, when there is an excessive flow of nerve impulses that cause and maintain the pathological process. However, when acute symptoms cease and the reparative phase begins, the suppression of nerve impulses may slow down the reparative processes. At this stage, as indicated by experimental and clinical data, the use of agents that normalize the trophic function of the sympathoadrenal system and stimulate tissue energy metabolism is recommended. In 1946, Anichkov proposed to divide the cholinoreactive systems into muscarine-sensitive and nicotine-sensitive types. From that time, the pharmacology of central anticholinergics became an important issue for the Anichkov›s school for many years. A number of neurotropic drugs from various classes were proposed for the pharmacological treatment of hormonal disorders. One of them was the original drug Etimizol (Ethimizole), which activates the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal cortex system and increases the sensitivity of the adrenal cortex to the action of adrenocorticotropic hormone, which allowed the drug to be recommended for asthma and various inflammatory diseases.