Nikolay Nikolayevich Anichkov (, often spelled ''Anitschkow'' in German literature) (1885,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

– 1964) was a prominent pathologist of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n heritage. Anichkov first described the specialized

myocardial Cardiac muscle (also called heart muscle or myocardium) is one of three types of vertebrate muscle tissues, the others being skeletal muscle and smooth muscle. It is an involuntary, striated muscle that constitutes the main tissue of the wall of ...

cells (

Anitschkow cell In pathology, Anitschkow (or Anichkov) cells are often cells associated with rheumatic heart disease. Anitschkow cells are enlarged macrophages found within granulomas (called Aschoff bodies) associated with the disease. The cells are also ca ...

, cardiac

histiocyte A histiocyte is a vertebrate cell that is part of the mononuclear phagocyte system (also known as the reticuloendothelial system or lymphoreticular system). The mononuclear phagocytic system is part of the organism's immune system. The histiocy ...

) and discovered the significance and role of

cholesterol Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body Tissue (biology), tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in Animal fat, animal fats and oils. Cholesterol is biosynthesis, biosynthesized by all anima ...

atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis, characterized by development of abnormalities called lesions in walls of arteries. This is a chronic inflammatory disease involving many different cell types and is driven by eleva ...

pathogenesis. In 1958, in an editorial in ''

Annals of Internal Medicine ''Annals of Internal Medicine'' is an academic medical journal published by the American College of Physicians (ACP). It is one of the most widely cited and influential specialty medical journals in the world. ''Annals'' publishes content releva ...

'', William Dock compared the significance of the classic work of Anichkov to that of the discovery of the tubercle bacillus by

Robert Koch Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch ( ; ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he i ...

. American biochemist D. Steinberg wrote: "If the full significance of his findings had been appreciated at the time, we might have saved more than 30 years in the long struggle to settle the cholesterol controversy and Anitschkow might have won a Nobel Prize".J. Lipid Res., 2004, Vol. 45, p. 1583-93. Anichkov elaborated on the doctrines of

reticuloendothelial system In anatomy the term reticuloendothelial system (abbreviated RES), often associated nowadays with the mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS), was employed by the beginning of the 20th century to denote a system of specialised cells that effectively cl ...

and autogenic infections.

Early life and training

His father, Nikolay M. Anichkov (1844–1916), was a representative of ancient Russian nobility and held the position of Vice-Minister of Education of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. His mother, L. I. Vasiliyeva (1859–1924), was the daughter of a priest that was founder of the Alexander Nevsky Orthodox church in Rue Daru,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1903, Anichkov entered the Imperial Military Medical Academy in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. There, he became a pupil of prominent Russian histologist Alexander A. Maximow (1874–1928) and later, in Freiburg, a pupil of the German pathologist Karl Albert Ludwig Aschoff (1866–1942). Upon his graduation in 1909, Anichkov began to work on his doctoral thesis, titled ''Inflammatory changes in myocardium: apropos of myocarditis'', and he successfully defended it in 1912. In this thesis, he first described the specific heart macrophages that today bear his name

. At the same time, Anichkov worked on an experimental model of atherosclerosis together with a student, S. Chalatov. They created a model of experimental atherosclerosis.

Career in Germany and Russia

In 1912, Anichkov moved to Freiburg to work under German pathologist L. Aschoff. The latter was interested in Anichkov's experimental work done in Russia. In Germany he became the first to describe ''cholesterinesterphagozyten'', German for 'cholesteryl ester phagocytes', which derive from

macrophage Macrophages (; abbreviated MPhi, φ, MΦ or MP) are a type of white blood cell of the innate immune system that engulf and digest pathogens, such as cancer cells, microbes, cellular debris and foreign substances, which do not have proteins that ...

s and today are known as

foam cell Foam cells, also called lipid-laden macrophages, are a type of cell that contain cholesterol. These can form a plaque that can lead to atherosclerosis and trigger myocardial infarction and stroke. Foam cells are fat-laden cells with a M2 macro ...

s. By histologically analyzing the development of atherosclerotic plaque, Anichkov identified the cell types involved in the atherosclerotic process:

smooth muscle Smooth muscle is one of the three major types of vertebrate muscle tissue, the others being skeletal and cardiac muscle. It can also be found in invertebrates and is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. It is non- striated, so-called bec ...

cells, macrophages, and

lymphocyte A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell (leukocyte) in the immune system of most vertebrates. Lymphocytes include T cells (for cell-mediated and cytotoxic adaptive immunity), B cells (for humoral, antibody-driven adaptive immunity), an ...

s. He discovered the leading role of cholesterol in atherosclerosis development ("There is no atherosclerosis without cholesterol"). Anichkov worked in Aschoff's laboratory up to the time World War I broke out in August 1914. He joined the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

Medical Corps and, from 1914 to 1917, was a physician-in-charge. In 1920, Anichkov was appointed Professor of the Department of Pathological physiology of the Military Medical Academy, a position that he held until 1939. He presented updates on atherosclerosis research at the Congresses in Berlin, Freiburg, Würzburg and Wiesbaden, and at meetings of the Swedish Society of Pathologists, and the International Society of Geographic Pathology. In 1930, after the Congress in Osaka, he went to Tokyo, Niigata, and Kyoto, to deliver a lecture "On experimental atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries of the heart". He wrote a chapter in E.V. Cowdry's ''Arteriosclerosis: A Survey of the Problem'' in 1933. In 1939-46, the lieutenant-general of Medical Corps Anichkov headed the Military Medical Academy's Department of Pathological anatomy. In 1942, Anichkov and A. I. Abrikosov received a State award for their textbook ''Pathological Anatomy of the Heart and Vessels'', in which they gave a detailed account of the development of atherosclerosis and

ischemic Ischemia or ischaemia is a restriction in blood supply to any tissue, muscle group, or organ of the body, causing a shortage of oxygen that is needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive). Ischemia is generally caused by problems ...

heart disease. In their 1998 book titled ''Medicine's 10 Greatest Discoveries'', M. Friedman and M. Friedland included the Anichkov's cholesterol theory in a list of great discoveries in medicine. During Anichkov's work as President of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1946–53) he participated in the foundation of a number of research institutes and research journals. In this period and later he created a research team in Russian pathology that consisted of 30 professors and many doctors.

Family

Anichkov was married twice. He had one son, Mily (1920–1991), who became a Professor of Surgery and Colonel of Medical Corps. His grandson Nikolay M. Anichkov (born in 1941) is Professor of Pathology, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, formerly Vice-President of the Russian Society of Pathology and head at Department of pathology in North-West State Medical University named after I.I Mechnickov, St. Petersburg, Russia (1984-2019). All N. N. Anichkov's children and colleagues remembered him as a kind-hearted man who was always fair to his coworkers and good to his friends. He died on 7 December 1964 of a myocardial infarction.

Degrees and titles held

Doctor of Medicine (1909), Doctor of Sciences (1912), Professor of Pathology (1920), lieutenant-general of Medical Corps, State award holder (1940), Fellow of the

USSR Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (u ...

and the

USSR Academy of Medical Sciences The USSR Academy of Medical Sciences () was the highest scientific and medical organization founded in the Soviet Union founded in 1944. Its successor is the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences founded in 1992, and is a part of the Russian Academy ...

, President of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences (1946–53).

Early life and training

Career in Germany and Russia

Family

Degrees and titles held

See also

References

Further reading