Am J Psychiatry 1985; 142:1291-1298
Copyright © 1985 by American Psychiatric Association
Depressive behavior and hyperactive adrenocortical function
JH Kocsis, JM Davis, MM Katz, SH Koslow, PE Stokes, R Casper and DE Redmond
This study examined relationships between depressive subtypes, clinical-
behavioral characteristics, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA)
function in 132 hospitalized depressed patients. There were significant
positive correlations between several pre- and postdexamethasone plasma
cortisol measures and anxiety, psychomotor disturbance, distressed
expression, and sleep disturbance. Few significant relationships were seen
between illness severity and HPA function. Virtually no endocrine
differences were seen between endogenous and nonendogenous subtypes or
between psychotic and nonpsychotic subtypes. These results and the previous
literature suggest a profile of depressed patients with HPA overactivation;
they are likely to be anxious, to have sleep and psychomotor disturbances,
to have lost weight in the current episode, and to be older.
