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Introduction
During the 1920s
progesterone was made from the ovaries of sows (pigs).
During the 1930’s and 1940’s the source was switched to
cholesterol or bile acids. However, the process was very
long and difficult. For years chemists tried to find a
better raw material than using cholesterol and bile acids.
In 1936, Japanese researchers realized that diosgenin
extracted from yams were similar to some of the adrenal
hormones. Russell Marker, a chemist from the University of
Pennsylvania, found that diosgenin could be converted into
progesterone. Marker then went to Mexico to see if he could
find the richest plant source containing diosgenin.
The search for the richest source of
diosgenin
In 1935 Russell Marker left his gasoline projects
to pursue the study of steroids. He knew that certain plant
substances were used for birth control and to treat female
problems throughout Central and South America and China.
Therefore, he theorized that some wild yam plant species
have hormonal properties.
Marker was
best known for the “Marker Degradation.” This degradation
involves 5 steps in which diosgenin is chemically converted
to progesterone using high temperature and pressure. Marker
experimented with many plant sources and finally when he
tested samples from a Japanese plant Dioscorea japonica (diosgenin),
he found the structures he needed for the production of
progesterone.
At Penn
State, his lab tested over 400 species of plants from
southern U.S and Mexico. In 1943 he went to Mexico to look
for the wild yam plants since he found that they contained
the richest amount of diosgenin. Marker read that Dioscorea
machrostachya grew several hundred pounds along the highways
in Mexico. On the way to obtain the plant, he met a man
named Alberto Moreno, who joined Marker to collect the
plants for him. Marker then loaded the plants on a bus and
headed back to the U.S and took them to his financial
supporter, Parke-Davis & Co., a pharmaceutical company. They
asked him to sign patent rites over to them for the process
Marker used to convert the yam to the natural progesterone
molecule, but Marker declined.
Making
progesterone available
Marker refused to
sign patent documents because he wanted to make the process
of obtaining progesterone from the plant source open to
everyone. He said he “wanted to leave the field open to
anyone who wished to produce in competition, to force the
price of the various hormones down to the point where they
would be available for medical purposes at reasonable
prices.”
It is Russell Marker who caused the price of pure
progesterone to go from over $80.00 per gram in the early
1940s to 80 cents per gram.
Starting in
1944, Marker was beginning to start up hormone companies to
produce progesterone. His first company was Syntex. After
disputes over profits and salaries, Marker broke ties with
Syntex and started another company called Botanica-Mex. The
owner of Syntex threatened Marker with jail for “stealing
Syntex processes,” thus, it forced Marker to close
Botanica-Mex.
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A new source of diosgenin
Even though Marker’s company was closed,
he remained in Mexico and continued to collect new
species of dioscorea. One of the plants he collected
was Dioscorea barbasco. He found that barbasco
contained 5 times as much diosgenin as the cabeza.
This then led Marker to restart Botanica-Mex and
eventually merged with Hormosynth in 1946. In 1949
the company went under ownership changes and today
it is a European drug company known as Quimica
Esteroidal, S.A. |
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Russell Marker Retired
In 1969 Marker wrote a letter that was published in December
1992 issue of Steroids. He said “after 5 years of production
and research in Mexico, I felt I had accomplished what I had
set out to do. I had found sources for the production of
steroidal hormones in quantity at low prices, developed the
process for manufacturer, and put them into production. I
assisted in establishing many competitive companies in order
to insure a fair price to the public without a patent
protection or royalties from the procedure.”
Marker was
given an award by the Mexican Chemical Society in 1969 and
also honored in 1990 on the 50th anniversary of the
discovery of the Mexican Wild Yam for his contribution to
steroidal hormone research.
Source:
Bennett, Michael, PhD,
Wild Yam Nature’s Source of Phytohormones, 1997
Other Notes
Is diosgenin or “yam extract” the
same natural substance as progesterone?
No, they may
have a synergistic effect and biological activity, but they
do not convert to the natural progesterone molecule without
the lab process involving heat and pressure.
What about soy?
Soy has been
another valuable starting material for certain hormones, but
diosgenin was preferred for steroid hormone production. |
