A dose-effect curve may be obtained at the level of the whole organism, the cell or the target molecule.

A dose-effect curve may be obtained at the level of the whole organism, the cell or the target molecule.

The test method selected will depend on whether or not a definitive median dose (LD50) and slope of the dose-response curve are both needed.

For competition binding assays and functional antagonist assays IC50 is the most common summary measure of the dose-response curve.

These psychedelic 2C drugs are extremely potent, and have what neuropharmacologists and dedicated trippers call a “steep dose-response curve” – if you take even just a few milligrammes more than a standard dose, the effect is exponential.

The hypothesis tests that are used may need to be tailored to the natural ordering of doses or to particular questions regarding the shape of the dose-response curve (e.g. monotonicity).