"Stress" is 80 Years Old: From Hans Selye Original Paper in 1936 to Recent Advances in GI Ulceration.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative and historical review without systematic search or original human data
PubMed 28641541 · doi:10.2174/1381612823666170622110046
What was done
This narrative and historical review traces 80 years of stress research starting from Hans Selye's 1936 publication on the general adaptation syndrome and the stress triad (adrenal enlargement, thymicolymphatic atrophy, and hemorrhagic gastric ulcers) in rats. It reviews the neuroendocrine mechanisms of stress (ACTH, glucocorticoids, catecholamines), the concepts of distress and eustress, and examines pharmacological mediators and treatments for gastroduodenal ulceration, including dopamine, sucralfate derivatives, and the peptide BPC-157.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data, effect estimates, or sample sizes. It qualitatively describes Selye's early experimental observations in rats and outlines pharmacological agents reported to prevent or potently heal gastroduodenal ulcers.
Why it matters
The review synthesizes the historical foundation of stress biology with modern gastrointestinal pharmacology, linking adrenal-mediated stress responses to targets for mucosal protection.
Limits
The work is a non-systematic narrative review providing no original empirical data, quantitative metrics, or clinical trial outcomes in the abstract. Much of the underlying foundation relies on historical animal models and preclinical mechanisms.
Cited by
- supports Hans Selye showed that in stressed animals, the adrenal glands enlarge, the gastric lining is damaged, and the thymus and lymphatic glands shrink.