Macklis R M, Beresford B
Dept. of Radiation Therapy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
J Nucl Med. 1991 Feb;32(2):350-9.
"Radiation hormesis" is the name given to the putative stimulatory effects of low level ionizing radiation (generally in the range of 1-50 cGy of low-LET radiation). Based on historical and pharmacologic principles reminiscent of some of the major tenets of homeopathy, most of these effects are now generally ascribed to protective feedback systems that, upon exposure to low concentrations of toxins, proceed to stimulate metabolic detoxification and repair networks. The activation of these networks may then result in net beneficial effects on the cell, organism or species. Discussions of possible stimulatory effects of low levels of ionizing radiation have recently become entangled with the separate but related question of whether a threshold dose level exists on the radiotoxicologic dose-response curve. This review summarizes some of the relevant historical and scientific data bearing on the question of radiation hormesis. We find the data in support of most of the hormesis postulates intriguing but inconclusive.
“辐射兴奋效应”是指低剂量电离辐射（通常为低传能线密度辐射1-50厘戈瑞）所假定的刺激效应。基于类似于顺势疗法一些主要原则的历史和药理学原理，现在这些效应大多被归因于保护性反馈系统，该系统在接触低浓度毒素后，会刺激代谢解毒和修复网络。这些网络的激活随后可能对细胞、生物体或物种产生净有益效应。关于低剂量电离辐射可能的刺激效应的讨论最近与放射毒理学剂量反应曲线上是否存在阈值剂量水平这一单独但相关的问题纠缠在一起。本综述总结了一些与辐射兴奋效应问题相关的历史和科学数据。我们发现支持大多数兴奋效应假设的数据很有趣，但尚无定论。
