Alpha 1-antitrypsin Deficiency - History

History

A1AD was discovered in 1963 by Carl-Bertil Laurell (1919–2001), at the University of Lund in Sweden. Laurell, along with a medical resident, Sten Eriksson, made the discovery after noting the absence of the α₁ band on protein electrophoresis in five of 1500 samples; three of the five patient samples were found to have developed emphysema at a young age.

The link with liver disease was made six years later, when Dr. Harvey Sharp et al. described A1AD in the context of liver disease.