Control-Theoretic Approaches to Endocrine Network Dynamics: From Molecular Clearance to Physiological Regulation

Endocrine systems are defined by complex dynamic behaviours such as oscillations, delays, transient responses, and feedback regulation, all of which are essential to physiological stability. Yet despite extensive molecular and clinical research, the quantitative principles governing these dynamics remain incompletely understood. While the metabolic clearance rates (MCRs) of individual hormones are well characterised in pharmacokinetics, their mechanistic relationship to emergent system-level properties, such as oscillatory frequency, damping, and stability, has not been systematically integrated into endocrine theory.Control theory, the mathematical framework underpinning engineered feedback systems, offers a rigorous and largely underutilised approach for addressing this gap. By modelling endocrine axes as dynamic feedback-controlled systems, control-theoretic methods enable quantitative characterisation of stability, robustness, oscillatory behaviour, and response to perturbations. In particular, second-order feedback formulations provide a direct link between measurable kinetic parameters and system-level dynamics, generating testable predictions about hormonal rhythms, feedback resilience, and therapeutic response.This Research Topic aims to establish a coherent quantitative framework for endocrine regulation by bringing together advances in mathematical modelling, computational analysis, physiological experimentation, and clinical investigation. Rather than focusing on a single endocrine disorder, the collection emphasizes fundamental regulatory principles across major hormonal systems, including the HPA, HPT, and HPG axes, the glucose–insulin system, and the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system.We welcome contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Mathematical and control-theoretic modelling of endocrine feedback systems across major hormonal axes.• Frequency-domain analysis of hormonal regulation, including stability margins, bandwidth, and oscillatory behaviour.• Quantitative links between metabolic clearance rates and system-level dynamic properties such as natural frequency, damping ratio, and settling time.• Mechanistic explanations of ultradian and circadian hormonal rhythms using systems-level approaches.• Integration of computational modelling with dynamic endocrine testing (e.g., stimulation and suppression protocols).• Control-informed perspectives on dosing optimisation, chronopharmacology, and therapeutic timing.• Development of open computational tools for endocrine network analysis and validation against experimental or clinical datasets.By bridging quantitative systems science with clinical endocrinology and chronobiology, this Research Topic seeks to advance predictive, mechanism-based endocrinology. A deeper understanding of how measurable molecular parameters shape whole-axis dynamics has the potential to improve diagnostic interpretation, refine therapeutic strategies, and establish control-theoretic analysis as a foundational tool in systems endocrinology. Topic editors: Ioannis P Androulakis, Massoud Boroujerdi Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/78758/control-theoretic-approaches-to-endocrine-network-dynamics-from-molecular-clearance-to-physiological-regulation