David Lester (January 22, 1916 – September 15, 1990) was an American biochemist who did extensive studies of

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

and was a professor at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

Life and career

He was scientific director of the

Center of Alcohol Studies The Center of Alcohol Studies (CAS) is a multidisciplinary research institute located in the Busch Campus of Rutgers University, which performs clinical and biomedical research on alcohol use and misuse. The center was originally at Yale Universi ...

after it moved to Rutgers in 1962. From 1940 to 1980, he was an editorial board member of the ''Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol'' (which later became the ''Journal of Studies on Alcohol'' and finally the '' Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs''), based at the Center for Alcohol Studies. In 1938, he married Ruth Weiss (1918-2008). After they moved to Princeton in 1962, she became an assistant editor of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Acetanilide studies

In 1946–1947, while studying at Yale, he coauthored with Leon Greenberg a series of three papers on acetanilide, an

analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic, antalgic, pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used for pain management. Analgesics are conceptually distinct from anesthetics, which temporarily reduce, and in s ...

that was still in use at the time, aiming to establish why it caused

methemoglobinemia Methemoglobinemia, or methaemoglobinaemia, is a condition of elevated methemoglobin in the blood. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, nausea, poor muscle coordination, and blue-colored skin (cyanosis). Complications ma ...

. Although more than half a century had passed since acetanilide was first used clinically, there was wide-ranging disagreement concerning its metabolism, and numerous theories had been postulated. The first of these three papers summarized these theories, and reexamined the proportion of various acetanilide metabolites in human urine. Finding that p-aminophenol conjugates were excreted, they refuted the earlier theories that the accumulation of this substance in the body was causing

. Of far greater impact was the second paper in this series, showing that

paracetamol Paracetamol, or acetaminophen, is a non-opioid analgesic and antipyretic agent used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. It is a widely available over-the-counter drug sold under various brand names, including Tylenol and Panadol. Parac ...

was a metabolite of acetanilide in the blood. The third paper in the series reported that even large amounts of paracetamol (up to 4 grams per kg of body weight) did not produce methemoglobinemia in albino rats. This observation, together with later studies conducted by Bernard Brodie and Julius Axelrod led to the rediscovery of paracetamol as a drug.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, David 1926 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American biochemists Rutgers University faculty Yale University alumni