Johann Conrad Brunner

Johann Conrad Brunner
Portrait of Johann Conrad Brunner
Born	16 January 1653 Diessenhofen
Died	2 October 1727 (aged 74) Mannheim
Education	Schaffhausen, Strasbourg and Paris
Medical career
Profession	anatomist

Johann Conrad Brunner (16 January 1653 – 2 October 1727) was a Swiss anatomist, especially cited for his work on the pancreas and duodenum.^[1]

Life

Brunner was born in Diessenhofen,^[2] and studied medicine in Schaffhausen, Strasbourg, Amsterdam, London and Paris. At Schaffhausen he studied under Johann Jakob Wepfer (1620–1695), who was also his father-in-law. He received his doctorate in 1672 from the University of Strasbourg.^[2] Beginning in 1686 he was a professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Heidelberg.^[2] In 1716, Brunner was appointed personal physician to Charles III Philip the new Elector of the Palatinate.^[2] He received many accolades during his life including a knighthood with the title "Brunn von Hammerstein".^[2] He died in 1727 in Mannheim, Germany.^[1]

Work

Brunner is remembered for his experiments and studies of the pancreas and the internal secretions associated with that organ. In 1683 he removed the pancreas from a dog and noticed that the animal experienced extreme thirst and polyuria. Despite his intuitive grasp of the connection between the pancreas and diabetes, he was unable to provide a theoretical link for the role of the pancreas in that disease. He published his findings on pancreatic research in a treatise titled Experimenta Nova circa Pancreas. Accedit diatribe de lympha & genuino pancreatis usu.

in 1687 he described tubuloalveolar glands in the submucous layer of the duodenum, which were later named Brunner's glands. Two disorders associated with these glands are:

• "Brunner's gland hyperplasia": Hypertrophy of Brunner's glands in the submucosal layer of the duodenum.
• "Brunner's gland adenoma": Polyp-like tumours arising from Brunner's glands.

Written works

• Poetum monstrosum et bicipitem, Diss. med. Strassburg 1672
• De glandulis in duodeno intestino detectis, Heidelberg 1687
• Experimenta nova circa pancreas; accedit diatriba de lympha et genuina pancreatis usu, Amsterdam 1682, nov ed.: Leyden 1722

Notes

1. Smith, Benjamin Eli, ed. (1918). "Brunner, Johann Conrad". The Century Cyclopedia of Names. (The Century Dictionary Volume IX). New York: The Century Company. p. 189.
2. Hirsch, Aug. (1876). "Brunner, Joh. Konrad B.". Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 3. p. 447.

References

• Description of Experimenta Nova circa Pancreas
• Diabetes, Doctors and Dogs
• List of publications copied from the German Wikipedia.