Hans Selye and the Development of the Stress Concepta: Special Reference to Gastroduodenal Ulcerogenesis

Abstract

Hans Selye has a historic role in the development of the stress concept. Before his short article in Nature in 1936, the neuroendocrine response to nonspecific injury was thought to be restricted to the release of catecholamines, as recognized by Cannon. Selye was the first to appreciate the crucial role of the adrenal cortex/hypophysis axis in the stress response. He also insisted on the nonspecificity of this neuroendocrine response, and he named the stress-causing agent "stressors". His last major contribution was the distinction between negative, that is, distress, and positive, that is, eustress reactions. The "triad of stress" (adrenal hypertrophy, gastrointestinal ulcers, thymolymphatic atrophy) was also first described by Selye, who was fascinated by the fact that in stressed rodents only gastric and not duodenal ulcers would develop. It was not until the recognition of duodenal ulcerogenic properties of propionitrile and cysteamine as well as the subsequent quantitative structure-activity studies predicting the duodenal ulcerogenic action of complex molecules that pathogenetic investigations allowed a molecular and mechanistic approach for studying the etiology and pathogenesis of duodenal ulceration. Recent studies on the role of sulfhydryls, TRH, ET, and growth factors provide new insights into central and peripheral pre-ulcer pathways. We were surprised to learn that an organ-specific ET-1 release may play a role both in ulcer induction and healing, which seems to start with the expression of immediate early genes such as egr-1 and stimulation of the local synthesis of growth factors such as bFGF and PDGF. Thus, a historic review originating with Hans Selye and extending through the next 60 years allows a cellular and molecular approach to the better understanding of stress-related disorders such as gastroduodenal ulceration.

The Endocrine Response to Stress - A Comparative View

“…Nevertheless, the concept of biological stress is closely connected to the historic development of the meaning of this word by Hans Selye after his short paper in Nature (Selye, 1936), following a first approach by Walter Cannon who restricted the physiological changes of stress and injuries to the effects of catecholamines and the adrenal medulla. Other key contributions of Selye to the stress associated concepts were the word stressor, meaning the agent causing stress effects and the non-specificity of the neuroendocrine response, even after positive or negative stressors (Szabo, 1998). Being such a general and widely used concept, the term stress has received many definitions, some of them trying to characterize the phenomenon, others focusing the elicited response and others even including the types of stressors, i.e.…”

A fekélybetegség és a stressz

“…Selye János a stresszt a szervezet bármilyen igénybevétel-re adott nem specifi kus válaszaként határozta meg [11,12]. A stressz többféleképpen fejtheti ki nyálkahártya-károsító szerepét, ezért a PUD kialakulása szempontjá-ból agresszív tényezőként tartjuk számon (2. táblázat).…”

Maternal sympathetic stress impairs follicular development and puberty of the offspring

“…Stress as an adaptive response of the body produces a wide range of biochemical and behavioral manifestations to respond to a threat (Chrousos 1998, Szabo 1998, Tache & Brunnhuber 2008. This apparently beneficial response of the body can become a problem when the stress becomes chronic.…”