Stress as factor of risk and adaptation

Pantic, V.R.

Stress as factor of risk and adaptation

1999

Pantic, V.R. (Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, Belgrade (Yugoslavia))

The results of numerous investigation undoubtedly suggest that responses to stress, inflammation and immunity are phenomena of huge importance for survival and adaptation, but they also represent the risk not only for individuals but for the species in whose defence mechanisms are not adequate for adapting and survival in given conditions. During the last three decades, our projects were connected with the research on neuroendocrine and immunocompetent cells of monoestrous and polyestrous animals in the course of their development, the activity of steroide hormones, deficit and/or sufficit of steroids and hormones of thyroid gland and response to stress. Various kinds of fish, chicks, rats, piglets and game were used. The essential regulators of response towards the increasing number of different stress signals originating from environmental factors, inflammation caused by infections and/or disorders of organs and tissue are the molecules with an identical or similar characteristics, conserved during evolution, such as: corticotropic releasing factor, neurohormones of family proopiomelanocortin, steroid hormones, catecholamines, and nitric oxide. This paper presents autor's opinion on the importance of common and species specific traits in response to stress, inflammation and immunity response during ontogenesis and possibility to use steroid hormones in the control of these phenomena. Since there are many literatura data available this paper will present only those from the articles of strictly monographic character.

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