Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:1526-1531
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Elevation of immunoreactive CSF TRH in depressed patients
CM Banki, G Bissette, M Arato and CB Nemeroff
Regional Neuropsychiatric Institute, Nagykallo, Hungary.
The concentration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), a tripeptide
(pyroglutamylhistidylprolin-amide), in the CSF of drug-free patients with
DSM-III major depression, somatization disorder, and peripheral
neurological disorders was measured with a sensitive and specific
radioimmunoassay. The depressed patients had markedly higher CSF TRH
concentrations than the other patient groups, and this finding could not be
attributed to any demographic variables. The elevation of TRH in CSF
provides further evidence of hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid dysfunction in
depression.
