Work

Inference for the existence of hormetic dose–response relationships in toxicology studies

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: In toxicology studies hormesis refers to a dose-response relationship with a stimulatory response at low doses and an inhibitory response at high doses. In this manuscript, we particularly focus on a J-shaped dose-response relationship for binary cancer responses. We propose and examine two new flexible models for testing the hypothesis of hormesis in a Bayesian framework. The first model is parametric and enhances the flexibility of modeling a hormetic zone by using a non-linear predictor in a multistage model. The second model is non-parametric and allows multiple model specifications, weighting the contribution of each model via Bayesian model averaging (BMA). Simulation studies show that the non-parametric modeling approach with BMA provides robust sensitivity and specificity for detecting hormesis relative to the parametric approach, regardless of the shape of a hormetic zone.

Source: Biostatistics

DOI: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxw004

Authors: Steven B. Kim, Scott M. Bartell, Daniel L. Gillen

Institutions: California State University, Monterey Bay, University of California, Irvine

Language: English

Topic: Statistical Methods and Bayesian Inference

Subfield: Statistics and Probability

Field: Mathematics

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging

Awards: G1053905225, G12099775, G1919878356, The Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of California, Irvine