Loeb’s formula: a rich though waisted heritage

Loeb’s formula is one of the milestones in the practical demonstration that the human organism cannot be studied in a fragmented way and, through its application, one can, in a simple way, give immediate responses to different problems in both a diagnostic and therapeutic context. Loeb conducted experimental studies on the different “vital behaviour” of various animal organisms in contact with different saline solutions at various concentrations. His work on the induction of rhythmic contractions in skeletal muscles, for example, or those on the importance of the ionic equilibrium in the survival of various embryos, led him to claim that by modifying the ions contained in a tissue it is possible to transfer qualities not possessed ordinarily. The key to the problem, which he posed on a daily basis when studying microcellular living beings, was to determine the appropriate blend of such ions or better the “harmonious set” of the various salts in the correct concentrations such as to maintain vital conditions. Loeb’s studies yielded the first concrete demonstrations that the maintenance of vital conditions depends on a dynamic balance of contrasting dynamic ionic forces, kept in the correct proportions by an incredible system of automatic regulators. His experiments gave a more concrete explanation to the concept of “stability of the interior environment” by Claude Bernard (1813-1878) and contributed to the great scientific season of general physiology that took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This fabulous “poker of aces” laid the foundations for “holistic” concepts, no longer in theoretical terms, but also with concrete “in vivo” demonstrations, subject to ongoing laboratory tests, in harmony with the canons of the “experimental” method.