Sérgio Henrique Ferreira (October 4, 1934 – July 17, 2016) was a Brazilian physician and pharmacologist noted for the discovery of the bradykinin potentiating factor, which led to new and widely used anti-hypertension drugs — the ACE inhibitors.
While working on this subject, he discovered a family of peptides present in the venom of a Brazilian snake, Bothrops jararaca, which inhibited kininase activity and strongly potentiated the effects of bradykinin in vivo and in vitro.
Subsequently, his group elucidated the structure of the smallest peptide, and using the synthetic pentapeptide, demonstrated its ability to potentiate bradykinin and to inhibit the conversion of angiotensin I in vivo in experimental models of hypertension.
At that time, he proposed that the mechanism of the analgesic action of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was due to the prevention of pain receptor sensitization which results from an inhibition of the synthesis of prostaglandins.
His studies on the basic mechanisms involved in the development of inflammatory hyperalgesia led to the discovery that a select class of analgesics like metamizole, in contrast to the classical NSAIDs, are able to counteract the ongoing sensitization of the primary sensory neuron via the stimulation of the arginine/nitric oxide pathway.