Simultaneous analysis of families of sigmoidal curves: application to bioassay, radioligand assay, and physiological dose-response curves.
Physiological and pharmacological studies of hormones, drugs, and neurotransmitters often generate families of sigmoidal dose-response curves. Optimally efficient data analysis should involve simultaneous description of all curves, rather than fitting each one individually. We have developed a general computerized method to describe the dose-response curves in terms of basal and maximal responses, ED50, and curve shape or steepness. This facile method permits rigorous statistical analysis, provides a basis for pooling of information from separate experiments, and allows one to test which characteristics are shared by various curves.
D001667:Binding, Competitive; D001681:Biological Assay; D003201:Computers; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013223:Statistics as Topic