Abstract
Many biological subdisciplines that regularly assess dose-response relationships have identified an evolutionarily conserved process in which a low dose of a stressful stimulus activates an adaptive response that increases the resistance of the cell or organism to a moderate to severe level of stress. Due to a lack of frequent interaction among scientists in these many areas, there has emerged a broad range of terms that describe such dose-response relationships. This situation has become problematic because the different terms describe a family of similar biological responses (e.g., adaptive response, preconditioning, hormesis), adversely affecting interdisciplinary communication, and possibly even obscuring generalizable features and central biological concepts. With support from scientists in a broad range of disciplines, this article offers a set of recommendations we believe can achieve greater conceptual harmony in dose-response terminology, as well as better understanding and communication across the broad spectrum of biological disciplines.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 122-128 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology |
Volume | 222 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 1 2007 |
Keywords
- Adaptive response
- Biphasic
- Conditioning
- Dose-response
- Hormesis
- Postconditioning
- Preconditioning
- Stress response
- U-shaped
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pharmacology
- Toxicology