Approximately 50% of depressed patients are resistant to the cortisol-
suppressing effect of dexamethasone. To determine if glucocorticoid
resistance could be a more generalized phenomenon in depressed patients,
mitogen stimulation tests were performed on lymphocytes from 12 depressed
patients and 12 control subjects before and after dexamethasone
administration. Suppression of serum cortisol following administration of 1
mg of dexamethasone in four depressed patients and 11 control subjects was
associated with a decreased lymphoproliferative response, but no such
change occurred in the eight depressed patients and the single control
subject who did not suppress cortisol. The dexamethasone-induced changes in
the mitogen responses were positively correlated with the highest
postdexamethasone serum cortisol values.Abstract Teaser