Hormesis: what does not kill, strenghtens

Maria Cristina Sánchez Melchor

Hormesis, a biphasic dose response to a chemical agent or an environmental factor, appears as a highly conserved adaptative mechanism, which to increasesd the resistance of the organism to biological damage. The hormetic response has a special interest in the study of protection against cancer, aging, neurodegeneration and oxidative stress involved in these conditions.

Xenohormesis seems to be present in the response to stress among species, what looks like a proof of evolutionary conservation of the hormetic response. The environmental stress response of plants and other autotroph organism would enable the organism`s early response to environmental stress.