Biological stress response terminology: Integrating the concepts of adaptive response and preconditioning stress within a hormetic dose-response framework.
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.
Calabrese
Edward J
EJ
School of Public Health, Morrill I, N344, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. edwardc@schoolph.umass.edu
Bachmann
Kenneth A
KA
Bailer
A John
AJ
Bolger
P Michael
PM
Borak
Jonathan
J
Cai
Lu
L
Cedergreen
Nina
N
Cherian
M George
MG
Chiueh
Chuang C
CC
Clarkson
Thomas W
TW
Cook
Ralph R
RR
Diamond
David M
DM
Doolittle
David J
DJ
Dorato
Michael A
MA
Duke
Stephen O
SO
Feinendegen
Ludwig
L
Gardner
Donald E
DE
Hart
Ronald W
RW
Hastings
Kenneth L
KL
Hayes
A Wallace
AW
Hoffmann
George R
GR
Ives
John A
JA
Jaworowski
Zbigniew
Z
Johnson
Thomas E
TE
Jonas
Wayne B
WB
Kaminski
Norbert E
NE
Keller
John G
JG
Klaunig
James E
JE
Knudsen
Thomas B
TB
Kozumbo
Walter J
WJ
Lettieri
Teresa
T
Liu
Shu-Zheng
SZ
Maisseu
Andre
A
Maynard
Kenneth I
KI
Masoro
Edward J
EJ
McClellan
Roger O
RO
Mehendale
Harihara M
HM
Mothersill
Carmel
C
Newlin
David B
DB
Nigg
Herbert N
HN
Oehme
Frederick W
FW
Phalen
Robert F
RF
Philbert
Martin A
MA
Rattan
Suresh I S
SI
Riviere
Jim E
JE
Rodricks
Joseph
J
Sapolsky
Robert M
RM
Scott
Bobby R
BR
Seymour
Colin
C
Sinclair
David A
DA
Smith-Sonneborn
Joan
J
Snow
Elizabeth T
ET
Spear
Linda
L
Stevenson
Donald E
DE
Thomas
Yolene
Y
Tubiana
Maurice
M
Williams
Gary M
GM
Mattson
Mark P
MP
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D001695:Biology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D009626:Terminology as Topic