Depiction of Physiological Homeostasis by Self-Coupled System and Its Significance

• Main Authors: Xia Lu, Guantao Jin, Wenjin Chen, Xinguang Yu, Feng Ling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019-09-01
• Series: Frontiers in Physiology
• Subjects: self-coupled system; negative feedback system; homeostasis maintenance; continuous monitoring; weakened regulatory function induced disease
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2019.01205/full

The negative feedback system (NFS) was regarded as the basic unit of regulation of physiological homeostasis for more than 70 years. However, NFS-based depiction possesses some limitations. The self-coupled system (SCS), a non-stop system in which the output of the current moment becomes the input of the next moment, can also be utilized to depict homeostasis. In SCS-based depiction, all of the related regulatory mechanisms of a homeostasis are regarded as an entity. Then, homeostatic dynamics can be expressed by simple mathematical language. A new disease group was revealed and some useful inferences were obtained through mathematical deduction. They were supported by published studies. SCS-based depiction of homeostasis should be a requisite supplement to medical knowledge systems based on NFS.