page_title: John Auer
section_title: Anaphylaxis
hierarchical_section_title: John Auer / Research contributions / Anaphylaxis
caption_attribution_description: English: Rockefeller Institute for medical research
context_page_description: John Auer was an American physiologist and pharmacologist. He published nearly 150 papers during his career and is credited with the first description of Auer rods. Auer also contributed to the study of anaphylaxis and helped develop modern thoracic surgery. During World War I, he conducted wartime research with the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.
context_section_description: In Meltzer's laboratory at the Rockefeller Institute, John Auer and Paul Lewis were the first to recognize asphyxiation as the cause of death in anaphylaxis.  Before Auer and Lewis's studies, it was believed that anaphylaxis was a reaction of the central nervous system.  In pithing the guinea pigs used in their study, Auer and Lewis were able to show that the peripheral nervous system was responsible for the onset of anaphylaxis.  They hypothesized that the asphyxiation observed was the result of bronchial spasms.  Operating on this idea, they administered atropine to suppress such spasms, and found this treatment to be effective.
caption: The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research
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