Mechanisms of autoprotection and the role of stress-proteins in natural defenses, autoprotection, and salutogenesis.

We hypothesize that in all physiotherapeutically oriented procedures of naturotherapy -- such as helio-, climate-, thalasso- or hydrotherapy or certain forms of physical exercise -- the transient expression of stress-proteins (heat-shock proteins, HSPs) is an important element of salutogenesis. These therapeutical procedures all cause a transitory 'disturbance' by an unspecific stressor that leads to functional responses. These functional responses can be trained and thus increase the forces and the capacity for resistance of the organism. The autoprotective mechanisms which we want to deal with in more detail are based on the functions of the heat-shock proteins (HSPs, stress-response proteins, 'chaperones') and represent archaic autoprotective responses. In addition, more complex mechanisms of autoprotection seem to have evolved that may play a role in the natural defenses against disease and which show a hierarchy of various genomically conserved strategies with different time-constants and time windows. This becomes apparent by studying autoprotective responses of the cardiovascular system of warm-blooded animals under ischemic stress. Recent extensive experimental protocols and clinical observations in elucidating the molecular basis of cardiac ischemia show that powerful autoprotective mechanisms are involved in the phenomena of 'hibernation', 'stunning', and 'ischemic preconditioning'. The system of the heat-shock proteins may therefore be regarded as a basic model for the principle of autoprotection and salutogenesis.