The authors examined the value of the dexamethasone suppression test
(DST) for predicting response of patients with unipolar, nonpsychotic major
depression to 1 week of hospitalization without antidepressant drugs and to
a 4-week trial of desipramine at a fixed plasma level. The rates of
response to hospitalization without drug treatment (defined as a score of
12 or less on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression) were not
significantly different for the patients with a positive DST and those with
a negative DST. This finding differs from those of prior studies of the DST
and response to placebo. The responses of the DST- positive and
DST-negative patients to desipramine also did not differ, a finding that
replicates those in some prior reports.Abstract Teaser