Hans Selye was an endocrinologist, a pioneer of research on biological stress in human individuals and groups. His most important scientific contributions include in 1936 the evidence that the pituitary-adrenal-thymus axis was activated by various nocuous stimuli, which led to the involution of the thymus and of the lymphoid organs; in 1946, the theory of general adaptation syndrome (GAS), pointing out that this is a general reaction that leads to resistance of the organism to various insults. This review article is focused on the general interest of Selye on the important role played by mast cells in different pathological conditions and in particular in calciphylaxis and calcergy, summarized in a classic book, which is a lasting contribution on the subject.
Keywords: Calcergy; Calciphylaxis; General adaptation syndrome; History of medicine; Mast cells; Stress.