Normal state, disease perturbation and medicinal perturbation
Define Vₙ, V(t), dₙ and dₘₑd.
Let Vₙ denote a reference regulatory state and V(t) the state at time t. A natural disease perturbation may be represented as dₙ, while a medicinal perturbation is dₘₑd. These are modelling abstractions, not directly established biological entities. Their value depends on operational definitions and measurable proxies.