title: The Emergence of the Dose-Response Concept in Biology and Medicine.
abstract: A historical assessment of the origin of the dose-response in modern toxicology and its integration as a central concept in biology and medicine is presented. This article provides an overview of how the threshold, linear and biphasic (i.e., hormetic) dose-response models emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and competed for acceptance and dominance. Particular attention is directed to the hormetic model for which a general description and evaluation is provided, including its historical basis, and how it was marginalized by the medical and pharmacology communities in the early decades of the 20th century.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health & Health Sciences, Environmental Health Sciences, Morrill I-N344, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. edwardc@schoolph.umass.edu.
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Calabrese
mesh_terms: D001695:Biology / Q000379:methods*; D006666:History of Medicine; D059165:Hormesis / Q000502:physiology; D008511:Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological
keywords: adaptive response; biphasic; dose–response; history of science; hormesis; linear non-threshold; threshold