Erspamer is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Even Irvine Page (who could sometimes be a harsh critic) stated that вЂњErspamer must be recognized as one of the most productive and gifted investigators in the field.вЂќ Dr. Erspamer has remained at the forefront of scientific research for over 60 years is amazing. Erspamer has gone on to identify and characterize many other biologically important molecules, including bombesin, several opiates and a variety of neuropeptides which also can be isolated from amphibians. Erspamer on enteramine which would later bring another key researcher into the story-Betty Twarog. Enteramine had a relatively extensive place in the scientific literature until 1952, when it was established as the same substance which Irvine Page, Maurice Rapport, and Arda Green had been working on since 1948, serotonin ( Erspamer and Asero 1952). He also studied the mollusc heart ( Erspamer and Ghiretti 1951) and the occurrence of enteramine in the salivary glands of the octopus ( Erspamer 1948 Erspamer and Boretti 1951). He named the substance enteramine ( Erspamer and Vialli 1937) and continued studies on smooth muscle for several more years ( Erspamer 1946). He deduced that the substance wasn't epinephrine and that on the basis of color tests, it was likely an indole. An acetone isolate of the cells caused smooth muscle contraction, especially rat uterus. One substance which interested him was found in enterochromaffin cells of the gut. Erspamer was interested in the smooth muscle constricting or contracting properties of various amine substances found in the skins and intestinal tracts of a variety of species, including rabbits, mollusks, and frogs. Erspamer remains unique in his devotion to the extraction of pharmacologically active substances from animals. Even today, with all of the interest in natural herbal remedies, Dr. In particular, he was interested in the field of pharmacognosy the study of drugs from natural sources. Erspamer had originally planned to be a lawyer, but became interested in pharmacology and physiology. The story properly begins in the early 1930's with Vittorio Erspamer working in the Institute of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, University of Pavia in Italy.

The discovery