Cortisol secretion in endogenous depression. II. Time-related functions.

Plasma levels of cortisol were sampled for 24 hours in 32 endogenously depressed (ED) patients and 72 controls to examine mean 24-hour plasma levels of cortisol, intervention in the feedback mechanism of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system (the dexamethasone suppression test), the circadian rhythm of cortisol secretion and its magnitude, and the ultradian rhythm of cortisol secretion. The main difference in the pattern of cortisol secretion in ED patients, as compared with controls, was in the ultradian rhythm. No acrophase or nadir advance of cortisol secretion in endogenous depression was found when age was controlled, but there was an earlier timing of first secretory episode of cortisol (during night). Only some ED patients have abnormalities in each of the functions studied, and they only partially overlap each other. The results suggest that abnormal cortisol secretion in depression should not be viewed as a monolithic malfunction characteristic of endogenous depression.

[1]  G. Asnis,et al.  Cortisol secretion in endogenous depression. I. Basal plasma levels. , 1985, Archives of general psychiatry.

[2]  G. Keitner,et al.  The dexamethasone suppression test and pituitary-adrenocortical function. , 1985, Archives of general psychiatry.

[3]  A. Halaris,et al.  Circadian rhythms in psychiatry The Boxwood Press, Pacific Grove, CA (1983). 270 pp , 1984, Psychiatry Research.

[4]  A. Steiger,et al.  Mean 14.00–17.00 h plasma cortisol concentration and its relationship to the 1 mg‐dexamethasone suppression response in depressives and controls , 1984, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica.

[5]  E. Robins,et al.  Pretreatment DST and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical function in depressed patients and comparison groups. A multicenter study. , 1984, Archives of general psychiatry.

[6]  M. Dallman,et al.  Corticosteroid inhibition of ACTH secretion. , 1984, Endocrine reviews.

[7]  D. Kupfer,et al.  Reduced cortisol latency in depressive illness. , 1983, Archives of general psychiatry.

[8]  G. Asnis,et al.  Cortisol secretion and dexamethasone response in depression. , 1981, The American journal of psychiatry.

[9]  B. Carroll,et al.  A specific laboratory test for the diagnosis of melancholia. Standardization, validation, and clinical utility. , 1981, Archives of general psychiatry.

[10]  G. Winokur,et al.  Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in depressive illness. Its relationship to classification. , 1980, Archives of general psychiatry.

[11]  Kripke Df.  Circadian rhythm phases in affective illnesses. , 1979 .

[12]  F Halberg,et al.  Methods for cosinor-rhythmometry. , 1979, Chronobiologia.

[13]  M. Fischler,et al.  Relationship between mood changes and adrenal cortical activity in a patient with 48-hour unipolar-depressive cycles. , 1979, Journal of affective disorders.

[14]  S. Kuromaru,et al.  The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Circadian Rhythm of Plasma Cortisol Levels in Depressive Patients , 1978, Folia psychiatrica et neurologica japonica.

[15]  G. Klerman,et al.  Recurrent Unipolar Depressions with a 48-hour Cycle: Report of a Case , 1978, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[16]  J. Mendels,et al.  Neuroendocrine regulation in depression. II. Discrimination of depressed from nondepressed patients. , 1976, Archives of general psychiatry.

[17]  J. Mendels,et al.  Neuroendocrine regulation in depression. I. Limbic system-adrenocortical dysfunction. , 1976, Archives of general psychiatry.

[18]  E. Weitzman,et al.  Advances in sleep research , 1974 .

[19]  H. Roffwarg,et al.  Disrupted 24-hour patterns of cortisol secretion in psychotic depression. , 1973, Archives of general psychiatry.

[20]  T F Gallagher,et al.  Twenty-four hour pattern of the episodic secretion of cortisol in normal subjects. , 1971, The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism.

[21]  T F Gallagher,et al.  Cortisol is secreted episodically by normal man. , 1970, The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism.

[22]  F. Wenzel,et al.  Circadian rhythm of adrenal cortical activity in depression. , 1969, Behavioral neuropsychiatry.

[23]  T. Moroji,et al.  Neuroendocrinological Studies in Mental Disorders and Psychotropic Drugs: , 1969, Folia psychiatrica et neurologica japonica.

[24]  H. Fahs,et al.  Circadian rhythm of adrenal cortical activity in depression. I. A comparison of depressed patients with normal subjects. , 1968, Archives of general psychiatry.

[25]  F. Halberg,et al.  Rhythmometry on urinary 17-ketosteroid excretion by healthy men and women and patients with chronic schizophrenia; possible chronopathology in depressive illness. , 1968, Archives d'anatomie, d'histologie et d'embryologie normales et experimentales.

[26]  R. Green.  Morning and afternoon plasma 17-hydroxycorticosteroid levels during affective psychosis. , 1967, International journal of neuropsychiatry.

[27]  D. Mcclure.  The diurnal variation of plasma cortisol levels in depression. , 1966, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[28]  P. McHugh,et al.  Plasma cortisol in depressive illness. , 1962, Journal of psychiatric research.