Modern integrative physiology – a return to the integrity of the organism

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Abstract

Physiology, aimed at obtaining new knowledge about the functioning of the organism, by its significance should occupy a central place among the biological sciences. Physiology is the foundation of medicine, and its successful development serves the progress of medicine. Classical physiology, in its best traditions, adhered to the concept of the integrity of the organism. However, in the second half of the 20th century, as physiology became more specialized, some of its branches separated, which ultimately led in many studies to the loss of the fundamental principle of physiology organism – the integrity of the living organism. Ignoring the progressive idea of the integrity of the organism does not promote the development of physiology and weakens its key role. Integrative physiology is aimed at understanding how each component of the organism functions as a part integrated into the activity of the whole organism. Its development is necessary for a breakthrough in generating new knowledge about the functioning of the organism. New knowledge about the mechanisms coordinating the interactions of the body’ssystems and ensuring its integrity, the stability of the internal environment, and the ability to adapt to new challenges is in demand by medicine. The purpose of this review is to draw attention to the problem of the integrity of the living organism and to show that the development of integrative physiology is a way of returning the integrity of the organism and strengthening the position of physiology among the life sciences. The review describes the key milestones in the emergence of integrative physiology with its central principle – 
homeostasis, highlights the role of I.P. Pavlov in the establishment of modern integrative physiology, and demonstrates the contribution of the I.P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, founded 100 years ago by the world’sgreatest physiologist, to the development of integrative physiology over the past decade.

About the authors

L. P. Filaretova

I.P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Laboratory of Experimental Endocrinology

Email: filaretovalp@infran.ru
Chief Researcher, Ph.D., D.Sci, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. I.P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation St. Petersburg, 199034

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