The Enduring Legacy of 1 Wimpole Street
Celebrating 100 years of endocrine discovery at the historic home of British endocrinology
Imagine a world where the body's intricate internal communication network was a complete mystery—a world where the very word "hormone" did not exist. This was the scientific reality until 1905, when physiologist Ernest Starling first introduced the term in his Croonian Lectures at University College London 1 . He described these chemical messengers as "setting in motion" countless bodily functions, from growth and metabolism to reproduction and stress response. Starling's broad definition, which initially faced vigorous opposition from physiological purists, ultimately gave birth to the field of endocrinology and forever changed our understanding of human biology 1 .
This year marks the centenary of that innovative terminology, and at the heart of this celebration stands an unassuming yet iconic London address: No. 1 Wimpole Street, the historic home of British endocrinology where our understanding of these chemical messengers was forged, debated, and refined over an entire century 1 .
Coined the term "hormone" in 1905 and laid the foundation for modern endocrinology with his revolutionary concept of chemical messengers.
The historic London address that became the epicenter of British endocrinology for over a century, hosting pivotal debates and discoveries.
The term "hormone" derives from the classical Greek "ŏρμω̄ν," meaning "setting in motion" 1 . Starling, with the help of classical scholars Sir William Hardy and W T Vesey, proposed the name to describe "these chemical messengers" that coordinate bodily functions 1 .
His revolutionary concept defined a hormone as "a drug-like body of definite chemical composition: a chemical messenger which may apparently be formed by any kind of tissue" 1 . This sweeping definition, which would find favor today, was remarkably forward-thinking, encompassing not just glandular secretions but also chemical messengers from nervous and germinal tissues.
The Oxford English Dictionary now offers a more complex description: "any of numerous organic compounds that are secreted into the body fluids of an animal, particularly the blood stream, by a specific group of cells, and regulate some specific physiological activity of other cells; also any synthetic compound having such an effect" 1 .
"Hormonology might have been a better name for the specialty"—remarking that while "endocrinology is difficult to explain at the dinner table... everyone knows about hormones" 1 .
The concept of internal secretions predates Starling's terminology by decades. The foundations were laid by Claude Bernard in 1855, who described the secretion of glucose from the liver into the bloodstream, though he used the concept in a different sense than we understand hormones today 1 . Later, in 1895, Edward Schaefer recognized that these internal secretions originated from more than just the known "ductless glands" 1 .
Throughout the 1920s, clinical endocrinology "came under something of a cloud" 1 . Professor T Swale Vincent famously declared, "There is no subject upon which so much utter nonsense has been talked as upon internal secretion," with Professor G Murray (of desiccated sheep's thyroid fame) in agreement 1 .
This era of what was mockingly called "West End-ocrinology" saw the great and good tempted by promises of rejuvenation, including poet W.B. Yeats, who received monkey gland treatments "without noticeable benefit to the man or his poetry" 1 .
The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) became the professional home for British endocrinology, though the path to recognition was challenging. A proposal to found an Endocrine Section in 1928 was thwarted, and it wasn't until 1945 that the Section of Endocrinology was successfully established through the efforts of Dr. Raymond Greene 1 . Greene envisioned a forum where "the practical clinical application of the scientific discoveries of the previous fifty years could be presented and discussed" 1 .
The RSM's history with endocrine disorders actually predated the specialty itself. Its predecessor, the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society, had published important clinical papers on "Sporadic cretinism with absence of the thyroid" by Thomas Curling (1850) and "Myxoedema" by Sir William Gull (1873) 1 . Unfortunately, the editor of the day failed to recognize the significance of Thomas Addison's seminal paper "On the constitutional and local effects of disease of the supra-renal capsules," which was refused publication in 1851 1 .
Professional home for British endocrinology since 1945
The meetings at 1 Wimpole Street became the vibrant center of British endocrinology, particularly from the 1960s onward. As one clinician recalled: "In those days it was the only place to learn and discuss the finer points of clinical practice. At all-day symposia on Cushing's syndrome the bright young doctors from Hammersmith would confront the greater experience of the Middlesex Hospital; or on acromegaly the discussion might focus on the relative merits of radiotherapy and incomplete surgery" 1 .
Thomas Curling's paper on sporadic cretinism - Early description of thyroid disorders
Ernest Starling coins term "hormone" - Birth of endocrinology as a field
RSM Section of Endocrinology founded - Raymond Greene establishes clinical forum
Society for Endocrinology founded - Academic focus on hormone research
Clinical debates on Cushing's and acromegaly - Refinement of treatment approaches
Amalgamation into British Endocrine Societies - Unification of scientific and clinical aspects
These discussions sometimes explored roads not taken in endocrine treatment. The author notes that had the community listened to Russell Fraser and his registrar, Graham Joplin, "we endocrinologists might have developed into interventional physicians with the technical skill to implant a radioactive seed into the pituitary (without present-day three-dimensional imaging)" 1 . Instead, endocrinologists largely continued to function as "therapeutic brokers," though today "the action of most hormones can now be interfered with by designer chemicals" 1 .
While the search results don't detail a specific experiment from 1 Wimpole Street, research on hormonal axes has been central to endocrinology. The hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis exemplifies the complexity Starling envisioned—a sophisticated feedback system where the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and gonads function as a single entity 5 . This axis plays a critical role in development, reproduction, and aging through carefully orchestrated hormonal conversations 5 .
The process begins with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secreted from the hypothalamus in pulses. This hormone travels to the anterior pituitary via the hypophyseal portal system, stimulating production of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) 5 . These hormones then communicate with the gonads (ovaries or testes), prompting production of estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone 5 .
The HPG axis exhibits bistability—a concept evident in the menstrual cycle's sharp transitions between follicular and luteal phases 5 . This switch-like mechanism involves kisspeptin neurons that mediate both negative and positive feedback of estrogen on GnRH secretion 7 . Two populations of these neurons exist: one in the arcuate nucleus (mediating negative feedback) and another in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (facilitating the preovulatory LH surge) 5 .
| Hormone | Origin | Primary Function |
|---|---|---|
| GnRH | Hypothalamus | Stimulates pituitary release of LH and FSH |
| FSH | Anterior Pituitary | Promotes follicle development (ovaries) and sperm production (testes) |
| LH | Anterior Pituitary | Triggers ovulation and progesterone production (ovaries); stimulates testosterone production (testes) |
| Estrogen | Ovaries | Develops female reproductive tissues and secondary sexual characteristics |
| Testosterone | Testes | Develops male reproductive tissues and secondary sexual characteristics |
| Inhibin | Gonads | Negative feedback on FSH secretion |
The system is further fine-tuned by metabolic signals. Leptin and insulin stimulate GnRH secretion, while ghrelin inhibits it, ensuring reproduction occurs only under favorable energetic conditions 5 . As noted in the research, "Evolutionarily speaking, this makes sense as it is unwise for the body to spend excess energy that it does not have to grow the body larger" 5 .
To illustrate the type of endocrine research conducted since Starling's era, let us examine a contemporary study on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis—the body's central stress response system. While this particular experiment was conducted in Serbia rather than at Wimpole Street, it represents the kind of scientific inquiry that would have been discussed within those hallowed halls .
Researchers investigated the HPA axis during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS). The study aimed to understand how inflammation and oxidative stress affect this neuroendocrine system, potentially revealing new therapeutic approaches for autoimmune conditions .
The experiment utilized 2-month-old female Dark Agouti rats, divided into experimental and control groups. The EAE group was immunized with an encephalitogenic emulsion containing rat spinal cord homogenate and complete Freund's adjuvant with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, while control animals received no immunization .
0 - Unaffected
1-4 - Progressive neurological symptoms
5 - Death
The research revealed significant HPA axis activation during peak EAE, characterized by increased Pomc gene expression followed by elevated POMC and ACTH protein levels in the pituitary . This activation coincided with increased oxidative stress, shown by elevated superoxide anion and nitric oxide levels in both pituitary and adrenal glands during disease onset and peak .
| Parameter | Pituitary Gland Changes | Adrenal Gland Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Superoxide anion | Increased at onset and peak | Increased at onset and peak |
| Nitric oxide (NO) | Increased at onset and peak | Increased at onset and peak |
| Lipid peroxidation | High levels at disease peak | Strong induction at disease peak |
| Antioxidant defense | Information not specified in source | Reduced glutathione content and catalase activity |
| Cellular changes | Increased corticotroph number and volume | Increased MC2R expression |
These findings demonstrate that inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways are intimately linked to HPA axis function during autoimmune disease—a crucial consideration for developing treatments that modulate this neuroendocrine-immune interface .
Modern endocrine research relies on sophisticated tools and reagents. While the specific materials used in historical Wimpole Street experiments aren't detailed in the search results, contemporary studies like the EAE investigation reveal essential components of the experimental toolkit:
Specifically bred strains that replicate human disease processes for ethical and controlled experimentation .
Encephalitogenic emulsions containing tissue homogenates and adjuvants to induce autoimmune conditions for study .
Equipment and reagents for measuring gene expression and protein levels to understand hormonal regulation .
Chemicals and equipment to detect reactive oxygen/nitrogen species and antioxidant capacity .
Antibodies, assays, and imaging techniques to visualize and quantify hormones and their receptors .
From Starling's initial definition to the sophisticated understanding of hormonal axes we have today, the field of endocrinology has traveled a remarkable journey—much of it orchestrated from the elegant rooms of No. 1 Wimpole Street. The early 20th-century debates between physiological purists and visionary thinkers have given way to molecular understanding of hormonal pathways, yet the fascination with these chemical messengers continues to grow.
The "days of clinical demonstrations when we brought our patients to No. 1 Wimpole Street to present to our colleagues in small individual cubicles may have succumbed to the Powerpoint and the video," as our source notes, but "endocrinology is still fascinating in the individual case, with the challenge of identifying the chemical messenger which has 'set in motion, excited or aroused' the disease process" 1 .
As we look to the future, the integration of endocrinology with genetics, molecular biology, and computational science promises even deeper understanding of these remarkable chemical messengers. The centenary of hormonology celebrates not just a century of discovery, but the foundation for future breakthroughs that will continue to emerge from the intersection of dedicated clinical observation and innovative scientific research. The classic hormones, as our source beautifully notes, "in any language, still do the same for the endocrinologist" 1 —they continue to excite, arouse, and set in motion both our bodily functions and our scientific curiosity.