Frobenius W
Universitäts-Frauenklinik Erlangen.
Zentralbl Gynakol. 1998;120(7):317-23.
In 1934, after a dramatic neck-and-neck scientific race, four research groups independently from each other reported on the successful purification of progesterone. Two of the groups were from the then-German cities of Breslau and Danzig, the others were from the USA and Switzerland. Possibly, the Breslau group had already had the purified hormone as early as 1933. At that time, gynecologist Ludwig Fraenkel (1870-1951) had been their "spiritus rector" for more than three decades. It was Fraenkel himself who at the beginning of the century, in examining a hypothesis of the anatomist Gustav Jacob Born (1851-1900), had provided experimental proof for an endocrine function of the corpus luteum. Later on, Fraenkel enlisted the help of chemist Karl Heinrich Slotta (1895-1987) in the purification of the hormone. This took place after important requirements for the isolation and for the semiquantitative determination of the hormone (e.g. the Corner-Allen-Test) had been established elsewhere. Also belonging to the Breslau research group were Erich Fels (1897-1981) and Heinrich Ruschig (born in 1906). Fels was an assistant to Fraenkel, Ruschig a PhD-candidate directed by Slotta. Shortly after the group had succeeded in purifying Progesterone the Breslau group was broken apart by the National Socialists' racial policies: Fraenkel, Fels and Slotta were forced into emigration.
1934年，在一场激烈的并驾齐驱的科学竞赛之后，四个研究小组彼此独立地报告了黄体酮成功提纯的消息。其中两个小组来自当时德国的布雷斯劳和但泽市，另外两个来自美国和瑞士。可能早在1933年，布雷斯劳小组就已经得到了提纯的激素。当时，妇科医生路德维希·弗伦克尔（1870 - 1951）担任他们的“精神领袖”已有三十多年。正是弗伦克尔本人在本世纪初，在检验解剖学家古斯塔夫·雅各布·博恩（1851 - 1900）的一个假说时，为黄体的内分泌功能提供了实验证据。后来，弗伦克尔在激素提纯过程中得到了化学家卡尔·海因里希·斯洛塔（1895 - 1987）的帮助。这是在其他地方已经确立了激素分离和半定量测定的重要要求（如科纳 - 艾伦试验）之后进行的。布雷斯劳研究小组还包括埃里希·费尔斯（1897 - 1981）和海因里希·鲁施希格（生于1906年）。费尔斯是弗伦克尔的助手，鲁施希格是由斯洛塔指导的博士生。在该小组成功提纯黄体酮后不久，布雷斯劳小组就因纳粹的种族政策而分崩离析：弗伦克尔、费尔斯和斯洛塔被迫流亡。
