Abstract
Morizo Ishidate was born the third son of his family in Aomori City on January 24, 1901. At the age of 17, Morizo began working in the family business and unexpectedly met patients with Hansen’s Disease at Matsuoka Hoyoen in Aomori. He was shocked at their plight and decided to study pharmaceutical science and invent an effective medicine for them.
Early in 1941, a new drug called promin was introduced for the treatment of leprosy at the US Marine Hospital (National Hansen's Disease Center) in Carville, Louisiana. USA. On November 26, 1943, promin treatment for leprosy was first reported in Public Health Reports, Vol. 57, by Dr. Guy Faget (Senior Surgeon) and his colleagues, who were providing care at aforementioned center. It was regarded as the most encouraging experimental treatment ever undertaken at the Leprosarium.
Based on the above news, at the age of 42 and a member of the Pharmaceutical Institute, Tokyo Imperial University, Professor Ishidate set out to synthesize promin in Japan; this happening during the era of confusion at the end of the Second World War. In April 1946, he and his colleagues successfully prepared Ishidate Promin, and Professor Ishidate began clinical trials at Tama Zenshoen in Tokyo. Due to continued devotion to the challenge, patients with Hansen’s Disease in Japan were successfully treated and cured.
To investigate the method for synthesizing the promin produced by Professor Ishidate's group, we investigated more than 20 papers and eight stories related to the preparation of Ishidate Promin and estimated the plausible synthetic methods.
