José Leal Prado de Carvalho, Brazilian biochemist (Alfenas, Minas Gerais State 08 September 1918 – São Paulo 11 January 1987)

Authored most of his works joint to his wife biochemist Eline Michelet Sant’Anna Prado (1921-2007)

ACHIEVEMENTS

Discovered metacorticoid hypertension independently of S. Fridman  

Demonstrated the tissue conversion of angiotensin I to angiotensin II, the first demonstration of the presence of converting enzymes in tissues

With E. A. Carlini & Z. Picarelli. Pharmacological activity of hypertension I and its conversion into hypertension II. Bull. Soc. Chim. Biol. 40:1825-34, 1958  

Performed important studies on metabolism and release of kinins

First described clostripain, a kinin from bacterial origin

First obtained urinary kallikrein in pure form 

With H.B. Nader first to show that the constitution of heparin is heterogeneous with distinct components and molecular weights (1974)

With A.C.M. Paiva & T.B. Paiva. Non-identity between pepsitensin and hypertension revealed by paper electrophoresis. Science 120:611, 1954

Isolated and characterized glycyl-bradykinin from wasp venom

With J. Ribeiro do Valle developed a method or test for pregnandiol (Leal-Valle method) and proposed a model of mice cage described in Ciencia & Cultura number 1, 1949

DID YOU KNOW?

Invited to a position in H. Goldblatt laboratory (Mount Sinai Hospital, Cleveland) 1956

Invited to head Pharmacology Department at Université de Montreal (1967)

See Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research 20(5):485-6, 1987