Ocular Surface Allostasis—When Homeostasis Is Lost: Challenging Coping Potential, Stress Tolerance, and Resilience

The loss of ocular surface (OS) homeostasis characterizes the onset of dry eye disease. Resilience defines the ability to withstand this threat, reflecting the ability of the ocular surface to cope with and bounce back after challenging events. The coping capacity of the OS defines the ability to successfully manage cellular stress. Cellular stress, which is central to the outcome of the pathophysiology of dry eye disease, is characterized by intensity, continuity, and receptivity, which lead to the loss of homeostasis, resulting in a phase of autocatalytic dysregulation, an event that is not well-defined. To better define this event, here, we present a model providing a potential approach when homeostasis is challenged and the coping capacities have reached their limits, resulting in the stage of heterostasis, in which the dysregulated cellular stress mechanisms take over, leading to dry eye disease. The main feature of the proposed model is the concept that, prior to the initiation of the events leading to cellular stress, there is a period of intense activation of all available coping mechanisms preventing the imminent dysregulation of ocular surface homeostasis. When the remaining coping mechanisms and resilience potential have been maximally exploited and have, finally, been exceeded, there will be a transition to manifest disease with all the well-known signs and symptoms, with a shift to allostasis, reflecting the establishment of another state of balance. The intention of this review was to show that it is possibly the phase of heterostasis preceding the establishment of allostasis that offers a better chance for therapeutic intervention and optimized recovery. Once allostasis has been established, as a new steady-state of balance at a higher level of constant cell stress and inflammation, treatment may be far more difficult, and the potential for reversal is drastically decreased. Homeostasis, once lost, can possibly not be fully recovered. The processes established during heterostasis and allostasis require different approaches and treatments for their control, indicating that the current treatment options for homeostasis need to be adapted to a more-demanding situation. The loss of homeostasis necessarily implies the establishment of a new balance; here, we refer to such a state as allostasis.