Étienne-Émile Baulieu

Étienne-Émile Baulieu
Baulieu in 2023
Born(1926-12-12)12 December 1926
Strasbourg, France
Died30 May 2025(2025-05-30) (aged 98)
Paris, France
NationalityFrench
Known forRU-486
DHEA
Neurosteroids
Scientific career
FieldsEndocrinology
InstitutionsINSERM

Étienne-Émile Baulieu (French: [etjɛn emil boljø]; 12 December 1926 – 30 May 2025) was a French biochemist and endocrinologist who was best known for his research in the field of steroid hormones and their role in reproduction and aging. He has been nicknamed the “father” of the abortion pill mainly as a result of his work on the abortion-inducing drug RU486 (Mifepristone). Baulieu also worked to determine if dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) was a prohormone and if it and other hormonal substitutions also increased longevity in humans.

Early life and education

Baulieu was born Émile Blum to Jewish parents in Strasbourg, France, on 12 December 1926.[1] His father, who died when Baulieu was four, was Léon Blum, a physician and an early specialist in diabetes. Baulieu changed his name during World War II when his family fled to the area near Grenoble and he engaged in the French resistance.[2] After the war, he attended the Faculté de Médecine de Paris and became a physician in 1955.[3] He studied further under his mentor Max Fernand Jayle (1913–1978[4]) in the field of steroid hormones and obtained his PhD in 1963 at the Faculté de Médecine and Faculté des Sciences in Paris.[3]

Career

In 1963 Baulieu was named a research director (equivalent to a research full professor) at INSERM, and in 1970 he became a professor of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine of Bicêtre, affiliated with University of Paris-South.[3] Since 2004, Baulieu was a member of the French "Ethical Advisory Committee" (Comité Consultatif National d'Ethique) for science and health. He was also associated with the "Institute of Longevity and Aging" (L'Institut de la longévité, des vieillesses et du vieillissement).[5] In 2008, he started the Institut Baulieu, a research program to study and treat neurodegenerative diseases, and foster research into healthy longevity.[6][7]

He served as president of the French Academy of Sciences and as a member of the United States' National Academy of Sciences.[3]

Research

Baulieu had an ongoing interest in dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). In 1960 he demonstrated that DHEA was the main adrenal androgen, was largely conjugated as a hydrophilic sulfate, and described its metabolism and functions. He worked to uncover the production of estrogens by the placenta during pregnancy and this led to the concept of DHEA being a "prohormone". Upon the invitation of Seymour Lieberman,[8] Baulieu became a visiting scientist at Columbia University in 1961–1962, and during this time he met Gregory Pincus, the father of the "birth control pill".[9] Baulieu then turned to more studies in contraception and in the regulation of fertility and pregnancy. He became a pioneer in the description of intracellular sex steroid receptors and identified major intracellular participants such as the heat shock proteins. He worked on the progesterone receptor and androgen receptor. While steroid receptors are generally found within the cell, Baulieu identified a membrane receptor for a steroid hormone in Xenopus laevis.[10]

Neurosteroids

Baulieu discovered that DHEA and pregnenolone are produced in the brain and introduced the term "neurosteroids" in 1981.[11] These steroids are active in the nervous system, help repair myelin, protect the nervous system, and enhance memory. Such agents may prove to be useful in the maintenance of brain function during age, and Baulieu suggested that use of DHEA in the elderly may ameliorate certain age-associated deficits including memory loss and depressive mood.[12] Baulieu conducted clinical research about the potential benefits of DHEA in the elderly population.[13]

RU486

Baulieu was known worldwide[2] for his work on RU486 (Mifepristone) and has been termed the "father" of the abortion pill.[14] Baulieu, who had identified the progesterone receptor, suggested to Roussel-Uclaf to modify the progesterone molecule to create an anti-progesterone.[15] Georges Teutsch then synthesized an agent that became initially known as RU486 in 1980. Baulieu investigated the actions of this agent as an anti-progesterone steroid that proved to be able to induce early abortion, and became more effective in conjunction with misoprostol. As a proponent of a nonsurgical approach to abortion, Baulieu became an advocate for RU486 even when the company withdrew from the product[15] and propelled him into the limelight of the abortion debate.[16] As an anti-progesterone, RU486 also has other potential such as in the treatment of certain conditions (breast cancer, brain cancer, endometriosis, diabetes, hypertension), and the anti-cortisol activity he discovered may be useful to manage depression or Cushing's syndrome.[17][18][19]

Longevity

Baulieu took increasing interest in what he called the "longevity revolution", that people are living longer, and its implications.[20] As part of this, he investigated the potential of hormonal substitution such as DHEA to increase well-being in old age.[13] The "Institute Baulieu" was started in 2008 to address issues that are detrimental to health in older people. One focus of research in the 2020s is finding ways to decrease the problems of the elderly to function independently.[21][22]

Death

Baulieu died at his home in Paris, on 30 May 2025, at the age of 98.[23][24]

Honours and awards

Bibliography

  • Baulieu EE, Kelly PA (1990). Hormones: From Molecules to Disease. Springer. ISBN 0-412-02791-7.
  • Baulieu EE (1990). Etienne-Émile Baulieu (in French). Paris: Génération Pilule. ISBN 978-2738100719. Autobiography.
  • Baulieu EE (1991). Abortion Pill. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-73816-X.
  • Baulieu EE (1999). Neurosteroids: A New Regulatory Function in the Nervous System. Humana Press. ISBN 0-89603-545-X.

References

  1. ^ Collins, Lauren (5 July 2022). "The Complicated Life of the Abortion Pill". The New Yorker. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b Blanchard, Sandrine (17 August 2007). "Etienne-Emile Baulieu: monsieur "longue vie"" [Etienne-Emile Baulieu: Mr. 'Long Life']. Le Monde (in French).
  3. ^ a b c d e f Veale, Scott (31 May 2025). "Étienne-Émile Baulieu, Who Developed the Abortion Pill, Dies at 98". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  4. ^ nih.gov
  5. ^ "L'Institut de la longévité, des vieillesses et du vieillissement" [The Institute of Longevity, Old Age and Aging] (in French). Retrieved 18 January 2023. An institute to learn about and publicize French research in the humanities and social sciences on aging
  6. ^ "Institut Baulieu, description of the Institute" (in French). Retrieved 18 January 2023. Research conducted in the field of age-related brain disorders still suffers from a knowledge gap. It is for this purpose that the Baulieu Institute was created in June 2008 by Professor Etienne-Emile Baulieu.
  7. ^ "French scientist Etienne-Emile Baulieu, inventor of the abortion pill, dies at 98". Associated Press. 31 May 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  8. ^ see also Etienne-Emile Baulieu: In Memoriam: Seymour Lieberman, Hormonologist, Chemist and Humanist (1916−2012)
  9. ^ Bosotti, Rorey (30 May 2025). "Etienne-Emile Baulieu: French scientist behind abortion pill dies aged 98". BBC News. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  10. ^ Baulieu, Etienne-Emile; Schórderet-Slatkine, Sabine; Le Goascogne, Claude; Blondeau, Jean-Paul (1985). "A Membrane Receptor Mechanism for Steroid Hormones Reinitiating Meiosis in Xenopus Laevis Oocytes". Development, Growth & Differentiation. 27 (3): 223–231. doi:10.1111/j.1440-169X.1985.00223.x. ISSN 1440-169X. PMID 37281432 – via Wiley.
  11. ^ Etienne-Emile Baulieu & Paul Robel (1998). "Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) as neuroactive neurosteroids". PNAS. 95 (8): 4089–91. Bibcode:1998PNAS...95.4089B. doi:10.1073/pnas.95.8.4089. PMC 34265. PMID 9539693.
  12. ^ Baulieu EE. "Closing Keynote:Aging and Hormones". NY Academy of Science. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  13. ^ a b Baulieu EE, Thomas G, Legrain S, Lahlou N, Roger M, Debuire B, Faucounau V, Girard L, Hervy MP, Latour F, Leaud MC, Mokrane A, Pitti-Ferrandi H, Trivalle C, de Lacharrière O, Nouveau S, Rakoto-Arison B, Souberbielle JC, Raison J, Le Bouc Y, Raynaud A, Girerd X, Forette F (April 2000). "Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), DHEA sulfate, and aging: Contribution of the DHEAge Study to a sociobiomedical issue". PNAS. 97 (8): 4279–84. Bibcode:2000PNAS...97.4279B. doi:10.1073/pnas.97.8.4279. PMC 18228. PMID 10760294.
  14. ^ Michael Balter (6 October 2000). "Profile. For "Father" of Abortion Drug, Vindication at Last". Science. 290 (5489): 39. doi:10.1126/science.290.5489.39. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 11183145. S2CID 43134849.
  15. ^ a b Greenhouse S (12 February 1989). "A New Pill, a Fierce Battle". The New York Times. pp. 22–24, 26. PMID 11646197.
  16. ^ Smolowe, Jill (June 1993). "New, Improved and Ready for Battle". Time. 141 (24): 48–51. PMID 11656232. Archived from the original on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  17. ^ Chang, Yue; Hao, Min; Jia, Ru; Zhao, Yihui; Cai, Yixuan; Liu, Yun (7 January 2021). "Metapristone (RU486-derivative) inhibits endometrial cancer cell progress through regulating miR-492/Klf5/Nrf1 axis". Cancer Cell International. 21 (1): 29. doi:10.1186/s12935-020-01682-1. ISSN 1475-2867. PMC 7792070. PMID 33413440.
  18. ^ Nieman, Lynnette K.; Biller, Beverly M. K.; Findling, James W.; Murad, M. Hassan; Newell-Price, John; Savage, Martin O.; Tabarin, Antoine (1 August 2015). "Treatment of Cushing's Syndrome: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline". The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 100 (8): 2807–2831. doi:10.1210/jc.2015-1818. ISSN 0021-972X. PMC 4525003. PMID 26222757 – via Oxford Academic.
  19. ^ Magon, Navneet; Chauhan, Monica; Goel, Poonam; Ruprai, Rupinder K. (July 2012). "The many lives of mifepristone: Multi-glandular exaptation of an endocrine molecule". Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism. 16 (4): 670–671. doi:10.4103/2230-8210.98048. ISSN 2230-9500. PMC 3401788. PMID 22837948.
  20. ^ Baulieu EE (30 April 2000). "In Year 2000: Aging, the Forgotten Revolution. Will DHEA Help Us?". In Butler RN; Jasmin C. (eds.). Longvity and Quality of Life: Opportunity and Challenges. Springer. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-306-46315-0.
  21. ^ "Institut Baulieu, Le vieillissement, une question d'avenir" [Baulieu Institute, Aging, a question of the future] (in French). Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France. Retrieved 18 January 2023. Two action strategies should be considered: • prevent the progression of the disease in those affected, and delay the moment of their dependence. • detect people at risk, with no symptoms, to prevent a still hidden evolution of their disease.
  22. ^ Belluck, Pam (17 January 2023). "The Father of the Abortion Pill". The New York Times. Today, his team studies Alzheimer's and has started clinical trials on a new method to treat severe depression, based on Dr. Baulieu's ideas about a receptor for a particular neurosteroid.
  23. ^ Etienne-Emile Baulieu, père de la pilule abortive, est mort à l’âge de 98 ans (in French)
  24. ^ Rorey Bosotti (31 May 2025). "French scientist behind abortion pill dies aged 98". BBC. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  25. ^ a b c "Etienne Baulieu". Academia Europaea. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  26. ^ Santi, Pascale (31 May 2025). "Etienne-Emile Baulieu, inventor of the abortion pill, dies aged 98". Le Monde. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  27. ^ a b "Biography and publications | Étienne-Émile Baulieu". Collège de France. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  28. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
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