Am J Psychiatry 1986; 143:846-851
Copyright © 1986 by American Psychiatric Association
Plasma MHPG in depressive disorders and relationship to the dexamethasone suppression test
A Roy, DC Jimerson and D Pickar
Plasma levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) were measured in 51
depressed patients and 43 normal control subjects. There were significantly
higher plasma MHPG levels in the combined patient group with current or
past melancholia (N = 28) than in nonmelancholic (N = 12) or dysthymic (N =
11) patients, in unipolar melancholic (N = 16) versus bipolar melancholic
(N = 4) patients, and in patients with a major depressive episode who
failed to suppress cortisol after the dexamethasone suppression test (N =
24) versus patients with normal suppression (N = 16). Anxiety symptoms
correlated significantly with plasma MHPG levels. These results
substantiate previous evidence that dysregulation of the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system occur
together in a subgroup of depressed patients.
