Dedicated to Professor Peter Krumbiegel on the occasion of his 80th birthday

Peter Krumbiegel, born in Treuen/Vogtland in January 1936, now celebrates his 80th birthday. Having worked with him on editing Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies since dozens of years, I would like to highlight remarkable stages of his scientific career as an isotope chemist and editor.

First, Peter studied chemistry at the University of Leipzig. During this time in 1957/1958, he gathered work experience at the Institut für physikalische Stofftrennung of the East German Academy of Sciences where he graduated under Dr Heinrich Hübner (the editor-in-chief of our journal until 1991) with a diploma thesis on kinetic isotope effects of hydrogen at the xylol oxidation. He became a team leader for Isotopenanwendung in Chemie und Technik in Hübner's department Isotopenanwendung in 1960. Peter tells about this pioneer time in isotope application: ‘We young scientists were able to actively develop this fruitful new field of isotope application.’ This was done under the leadership of Justus Mühlenpfordt and Nobel laureate Gustav Hertz. Both famous scientists taught the youngsters to ‘always think out of the box, looking beyond the horizons’ and ‘think each idea out fully’ [1]. During the 1960s, the Leipzig isotope research centre organized biannual conferences on stable isotopes (Arbeitstagung über Stabile Isotope – ASTI), ‘which for us youngsters were an important scientific exchange platform with the well-known isotope scientists Jacob Bigeleisen and Max Wolfsberg from the USA’, recalls Peter.

Along with his team, Peter Krumbiegel focussed on the investigation of unknown reaction mechanisms using ¹⁵N-labelling. He studied the synthesis and degradation of amino compounds as well as the nitrogen distribution in organic reaction systems, and applied the isotope dilution method for ¹⁵N-caprolactam estimating monomers in polycaproamide. Peter had his work culminate in his Ph.D. thesis at the University of Leipzig in 1963.

However, the large deuterium isotope effects, particularly in auto-oxidation reactions of organic compounds, remained the major part of his pioneer research on the measurement, description and technical use of those isotope effects. That was the time when Peter Krumbiegel's team Isotopenanwendung influenced the state of the art of isotope effects in chemistry. Consequently, in 1970, he published the book ‘Isotopieeffekte’ at the Akademie Verlag, which was taken over by Pergamon Press Oxford and Viewegs Braunschweig in the same year. Moreover, he scientifically supervised the translation into German of the textbook published by the Russian scientist A.I. Schatenstein ‘Isotopenaustausch und Substitution des Wasserstoffs in organischen Verbindungen’ edited at the VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin, in 1963.

Due to restructuring measures in the Academy of Sciences in 1970, Peter Krumbiegel was delegated for initially three years to the Leiteinrichtung für Isotopen– und Strahlentechnik Isocommerz GmbH, which was responsible for research funding and supply of isotope compounds. He worked as a supervisor for nuclear pharmaceuticals and stable isotopes in collaboration with the Central Institute for Isotope and Radiation Research (ZfI) in Leipzig. However, Peter's intention to do research and to teach students instead of ‘administrating isotope compounds’ culminated in a conflict finally decided by court in 1978.

In 1979 Peter Krumbiegel came back to the ZfI and joined the department of Professor Hans Faust, whose team was internationally well known and leading in biomedical-agricultural applications of stable isotopes. It was a scientifically very productive period: Peter fully identified himself with the combination ‘Isotopes in Medicine’. He initiated new stable isotope applications in human medicine developing and using new diagnostic methods for non-invasive organ function tests with ¹⁵N and ¹³C labelled compounds (e.g. [2]). These applications are known as the ¹⁵N-methacetin liver function test, the ¹⁵N-urea urine test, and the ¹³C Helicobacter pylori test. The latter even was one of the first commercially used Helicobacter pylori breath tests based on tests developed by Peter [3] and has been designed in collaboration with the Fischer Analysen Instrumente FAN GmbH in Leipzig since more than 25 years.

An interesting idea was developed by Peter Krumbiegel, Hans Faust and their colleagues in the mid 1980s: the study of nitrogen turnover of plants, animals, and humans also in the intact organism using ¹⁵N-NMR spectroscopy in connection with traditional ¹⁵N analysis [4]. Unfortunately, the lack of relevant equipment stopped further activities – a typical phenomenon in East German research.

The German Society of Nuclear Medicine awarded Peter Krumbiegel's work in this field with the 1989 Research Prize. This award also recognized Peter's pioneer work in reducing prejudices against the application of stable isotopes in human diagnostic. Again, as a consequence of his scientific work and his experience in using stable isotope labelled compounds in medical diagnostic, Peter summarized the state of the art in applying stable isotopes in medicine research in his habilitation treatise at the University of Leipzig in 1987. Peter Krumbiegel discussed and explained the problem of the application of stable isotopes in human medicine, in physiology and also from the ethical point of view in his book ‘Stable isotope pharmaceuticals’ published by Gustav-Fischer-Verlag Stuttgart in 1991.

In the mid 1970s, the Faust team was chosen by the International Atomic Energy Agency for the ‘Training Course on ¹⁵N Application’ which brought a breeze of internationality into the mostly restrictive East German science. Peter became an enthusiastic lecturer for the training groups of young scientists from developing countries worldwide, and got involved in creating teaching material.

Teaching young students dates back to about 1970 when Peter started his first lecture on ‘Technological Chemistry’ at the University of Leipzig. Even years after his retirement, he continued to give courses in isotope chemistry for medical students at the University of Leipzig.

Peter Krumbiegel's work at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ was characterized mainly by the application of stable isotopes in environmental medicine and epidemiology. In the department Human Exposure Research and Epidemiology headed by Olf Herbarth, Peter contributed his experience in developing non-invasive diagnostic methods, supervising related studies, and investigating exposition associated physiological disorders. His good connections with medical institutes, for example, the Children's Hospital of the University of Leipzig, and other research institutions resulted in remarkable studies on the health state of preschool and school children in the region of Leipzig affected by environmental pollution. One example is the article ‘Noninvasive diagnostic methods in environmental medicine: effect monitoring using stable isotopes’ by Krumbiegel and Herbarth [5]. During his research at the UFZ and after his retirement, Peter supervised a lot of Ph.D. and diploma theses, hold lectures, and wrote articles. Two of many examples should be mentioned here: (i) the nomenclature of isotopic organic-chemical compounds and the definition of symbols and units helped to clarify misleading wording in isotope literature [6,7], and (ii) a review on large deuterium isotope effects [8], both published in Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies.

That is my cue to Peter Krumbiegel's editorial work. As early as in 1975, he joined the Editorial Board of Isotopenpraxis (former name of our journal) and was responsible for the application of stable isotopes under editor-in-chief K. Uhlig [see 9], and later, from 1980 to 1991 under editor-in-chief H. Hübner. When Professor Hübner passed away in 1992, Peter was asked by the Scientific Director of the UFZ, Professor Peter Fritz, to continue editing the only isotope journal, under the new designation and name Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies. It was always Peter's intention to publish novel methods, interesting ideas, but also review papers in order to develop the former Isotopenpraxis into an internationally highly appreciated periodical in isotope research. Five years ago, Peter decided to pass on the editorship of the journal into younger hands.

Peter Krumbiegel is not only passionate about ‘pure isotope chemistry’. Those who know him would confirm that his second passion is music, particular that by J.S. Bach. While he was still a student in Leipzig, he joined the Universitätschor in 1957 as a tenor. Yet he had to watch helplessly the pointless destruction of the old Universitätskirche St. Pauli in June 1968. Later he joined the Leipziger Oratorienchor, where he sang until few years ago.

Music and isotopes – both need a kind of vibration energy to work out well. We wish Peter Krumbiegel good health for many more years and enough energy for his passions.

Two original articles by Klaus-Dieter Wutzke, Rostock, on the application of lactose-[¹⁵N]ureide for the investigation of nitrogen and ammonia in human excretions [10], and Peter Junghans, Dummerstorf, on reconsidering the ¹³C bicarbonate (NaH¹³CO₃) method for the estimation of energy expenditure [11] present new results in Peter Krumbiegel's former research field.