Wilhelm Olivier Leube

Who was Wilhelm Olivier Leube?

Wilhelm Olivier Leube was a German internist who was a native of Ulm.

He studied medicine in Tübingen, Zurich, Berlin and Munich, and from 1868 worked as an assistant at the medical clinic in Erlangen. In 1872 he became a professor of pathology and special therapy, as well as director of the medical clinic in Jena. Afterwards he was a professor at the Universities of Erlangen and Würzburg. At Jena, one of his assistants was noted physician Ottomar Rosenbach.

Wilhelm Leube is remembered for his work with gastric and intestinal disorders, and his pioneer research of "nervous dyspepsia". He believed that gastric irritation was often caused by the effects of food on the sensory nerves of the stomach, and performed extensive studies on digestion. In 1871 he introduced a procedure known as intubation in order to retrieve contents of the stomach for analysis. Later he introduced "test meals" of different types of food, which would be served to patients, and afterwards retrieved via Leube's "gastric tube" at scheduled times. Through these procedures, Leube researched the degree of digestion of the test meal, as well as the quantity and concentration of acid and pepsin in the patients' stomach. With physiologist Isidor Rosenthal, he developed the Leube-Rosenthalsche Fleischsolution.