Johann Florian Heller
Encyclopedia
Johann Florian Heller was an Austria
n chemist
who was one of the founders of clinical chemistry.
Heller was born in Vienna
, Austria. He studied chemistry in Prague
and later with Liebig
and Wöhler
at Giessen. During those studies he characterized rhodizonic acid
and its potassium
salt (1837).
In 1844 Heller established a laboratory of pathological chemistry in Vienna's General Hospital, but his appointment as head of the lab was delayed until 1855 because some of the faculty thought that the position should be occupied by a medical doctor. During that period he studied the chemistry of urine
, and he developed the well-known Heller's ring test for albumin
in the urine (1852). He also identified a fatty substance that he called urostealith
, a constituent of certain bladder stones, and developed a treatment based on solutions of sodium carbonate
, which were found to dissolve the substance in vitro
(1845).
Also in 1844, Heller took over editorship of the recently founded Archiv für Physiologische und Pathologische Chemie und Mikroskopie, the first journal to deal exclusively with pathological chemistry; which stopped publication after six volumes, for lack of articles.
The Austrian Association for Clinical Chemistry (ÖGKC) awards a scientific prize named after him.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n chemist
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
who was one of the founders of clinical chemistry.
Heller was born in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria. He studied chemistry in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and later with Liebig
Justus von Liebig
Justus von Liebig was a German chemist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and worked on the organization of organic chemistry. As a professor, he devised the modern laboratory-oriented teaching method, and for such innovations, he is regarded as one of the...
and Wöhler
Friedrich Wöhler
Friedrich Wöhler was a German chemist, best known for his synthesis of urea, but also the first to isolate several chemical elements.-Biography:He was born in Eschersheim, which belonged to aau...
at Giessen. During those studies he characterized rhodizonic acid
Rhodizonic acid
Rhodizonic acid is a chemical compound with formula C6H2O6 or 42. It can be seen as a two-fold alcohol and four-fold ketone of cyclohexene, more precisely 5,6-dihydroxycyclohex-5-ene-1,2,3,4-tetrone....
and its potassium
Potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite the hydrogen emitted in the reaction.Potassium and sodium are...
salt (1837).
In 1844 Heller established a laboratory of pathological chemistry in Vienna's General Hospital, but his appointment as head of the lab was delayed until 1855 because some of the faculty thought that the position should be occupied by a medical doctor. During that period he studied the chemistry of urine
Urine
Urine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...
, and he developed the well-known Heller's ring test for albumin
Albumin
Albumin refers generally to any protein that is water soluble, which is moderately soluble in concentrated salt solutions, and experiences heat denaturation. They are commonly found in blood plasma, and are unique to other blood proteins in that they are not glycosylated...
in the urine (1852). He also identified a fatty substance that he called urostealith
Urostealith
Urostealith is a fatty or resinous substance identified by the Austrian chemist J. F. Heller in 1845 as the main constituent of some bladder stones....
, a constituent of certain bladder stones, and developed a treatment based on solutions of sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate , Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well-known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the...
, which were found to dissolve the substance in vitro
In vitro
In vitro refers to studies in experimental biology that are conducted using components of an organism that have been isolated from their usual biological context in order to permit a more detailed or more convenient analysis than can be done with whole organisms. Colloquially, these experiments...
(1845).
Also in 1844, Heller took over editorship of the recently founded Archiv für Physiologische und Pathologische Chemie und Mikroskopie, the first journal to deal exclusively with pathological chemistry; which stopped publication after six volumes, for lack of articles.
The Austrian Association for Clinical Chemistry (ÖGKC) awards a scientific prize named after him.