[A brief survey is offering of debates on two long-standing questions in stress studies and theories: 1) question of stress nonspecificity (i.e. homo- or heterogeneity in stress responses), and 2) what is the functional role of central catecholamines in stress mechanisms, especially in stress signaltransduction and in the realization of stress responses.]

[Selye pioneered the stress concept that is ingrained in the vocabulary of daily life. This was originally build on experimental observations that divers noxious agents can trigger a similar triad of endocrine (adrenal enlargement), immune (involution of thymus) and gut (gastric erosion formation) responses as reported in a letter to Nature in 1936. Subsequently, he articulated the underlying mechanisms and hypothesized the existence of a “first mediator” in the hypothalamus able to orchestrate this bodily changes. However he took two generations to identify this mediator. The Nobel Laureate, Roger Guillemin, a former Selye’s PhD student, demonstrated in 1955 the existence of a hypothalamic factor that elicited adrenocorticotropic hormone release from the rat pituitary and named it corticotropin releasing factor (CRF). In 1981, Wylie Vale, a former Guillemin’s Ph Student, characterized CRF as 41 amino acid and cloned the CRF1 and CRF2 receptors. This paves the way to experimental studies establishing that the activation of the CRF signaling pathways in the brain plays a key role in mediating the stress-related endocrine, behavioral, autonomic and visceral responses. The unraveling of the biochemical coding of stress is rooted in Selye legacy continues to have increasing impact on the scientific community.]

[Glucocorticoid hormones may have dual action on the stomach: physiological gastroprotective and pathological proulcerogenic one. In physiological conditions, even in acute stress situations, glucocorticoids have an adaptive effect on the stomach and, therefore, are gastroprotective. The findings that we review in this article suggest that glucocorticoids released during acute stress are naturally occurring protective factors that play an important role in maintenance of the gastric mucosal integrity.]

[Science assumed in recent decades an increasingly important role in the regulatory field. Regulatory science is now regarded as established specific brunch of science. A disturbing anomaly, the emergence of fraudulent data is of major concern both in the field of research and in the regulation. Hans Selye’s work on stress, on several forms of pluricausal diseases and on other experimental models came into the focus of interest on the occasion of the Selye Symposium - 2013 held in May 2013 at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest.]

[The relationship between stress and mental illness has been extensively studied and there is a growing consensus that the occurrence of mental illness rather depends on a combination of factors than is caused by stressful external events. Significant hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis abnormalities were observed among others in major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. In both disorders, the extent of change in cortisol level was related to the severity of illness and to cognitive changes. Exogenous use of synthetic steroids also frequently resulted in severe psychiatric symptoms. In conclusion changes in the level of steroid hormones may cause impairments in the brain.]