Applications of hormesis in toxicology, risk assessment and chemotherapeutics.
There is much debate over the fundamental shape of the dose-response curve in the low-dose zone, particularly in the fields of toxicology and risk assessment. The defaults, principally accepted dose-response models in the major texts in these areas and in government regulatory activities, are a threshold model for non-carcinogens and a linear model for most carcinogens. We have argued that in properly designed studies the U-shaped hormetic response predominates and is more fundamental. In this article, a broad range of basic issues associated with the acceptance of U-shaped dose responses as central to toxicology, pharmacology and their applications to risk assessment and medicine will be discussed.
Calabrese
Edward J
EJ
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 10003, USA. edwardc@schoolph.umass.edu
Baldwin
Linda A
LA
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000633:toxicity; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D010600:Pharmacology; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D014116:Toxicology / Q000379:methods*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002273:Carcinogens