Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:170-175
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Multiple hormonal responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia in depressed patients and normal volunteers
JD Amsterdam, E Schweizer and A Winokur
Studies have shown that some depressed patients may demonstrate multiple
hormonal response abnormalities after a neuroendocrine challenge test; this
finding has suggested the strategy of measuring several hormones after an
insulin tolerance test. The authors gave insulin tolerance tests to 72
depressed patients and 51 age- and sex- matched healthy volunteer control
subjects and measured glucose, cortisol, prolactin, and human growth
hormone (GH) responses. Although there were no differences between patients
and control subjects in the mean decrease in glucose levels after the
insulin tolerance test, depressed men demonstrated significantly lower
prolactin and GH levels after the test.
