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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The function of the central serotonergic system was examined indirectly through the measurement of prolactin (PRL) and cortisol responses to fenfluramine challenges in 27 heroin addicts 2 months after detoxification and in nine healthy volunteers. Heroin abusers included nine addicts with comorbid depressive disorders (Group A), nine with aggressive behavior and antisocial personality (Group B), and nine with heroin addiction uncomplicated by other Axis I and II psychiatric disorders (Group C). PRL and cortisol responses of patients in Group A were blunted, while those of patients in Groups B and C did not differ from those of the healthy volunteers. Cortisol responses in Group A differed significantly from those in the other patient groups and in the normal comparison group for AUC analyses, but the diagnosis x time interaction showed a significant difference only between Group A and the normal group. Our data suggest that the function of the serotonergic system is impaired in heroin addicts with comorbid depression but not in heroin addicts who are not clinically depressed. Thus, the serotonergic system does not appear to be impaired by prolonged opioid exposure, per se.
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PMID:Serotonin function in detoxified heroin abusers: prolactin and cortisol responses to fenfluramine challenge. 857 Jul 67

This exploratory, prospective study was set up to determine the relationship between cortisol and catecholamine levels and labor experience and postpartum maternal mood. It was performed at the Coronation Hospital, which serves a low-income urban population in Johannesburg. Blood samples were taken from 189 low-risk primiparous women in active first stage of labor and analyzed for cortisol, norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine. The stress hormone levels were then correlated with maternal anxiety, depression and self-esteem scores, and changes associated with mothers' labor experience and pain. Patients who were distressed and required analgesia had higher cortisol levels. Those who described a more positive labor experience at 24 hours also had higher cortisol levels. There were no significant correlations between psychological test scores and stress hormone levels. Both labor pain at the time and a more positive recollected labor experience were associated with high cortisol levels. Cortisol and catecholamine levels in labor did not correlate with postpartum psychological test scores.
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PMID:Labor experience, maternal mood and cortisol and catecholamine levels in low-risk primiparous women. 874 92

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between age-associated changes in central serotonergic function and abnormalities associated with major depression. Under randomized double-blind conditions, prolactin and cortisol responses to the serotonin-releasing agent d,l-fenfluramine hydrochloride (60 mg orally) and placebo were examined in 30 normal subjects (15 men, 15 women; age range 21-84 years) and 39 patients with major depressive disorder, endogenous subtype (14 men, 25 women; age range 29-72 years). In the normal subjects, a significant Age x Challenge x Time interaction was observed in the prolactin response (p = .03). This was primarily due to the elevated prolactin responses of the younger healthy women. Peak minus baseline (delta) prolactin responses were negatively correlated with age (women, p = .004; men, p = .06). In the depressed patients there was no age-related decline in prolactin response to fenfluramine. When depressed and healthy younger subjects were compared, delta prolactin responses to fenfluramine were significantly blunted in young patients with depression (p = .003) irrespective of the significant effect of gender (p = .01), but not in older depressed patients. Cortisol responses to fenfluramine did not reveal consistent effects of age, gender, or diagnosis. Age-related decline in central serotonergic function may make older individuals more vulnerable to depression and possibly render depressive episodes more frequent, more severe, and less amenable to treatment.
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PMID:Interrelationship of age, depression, and central serotonergic function: evidence from fenfluramine challenge studies. 880 90

Hypothyroidism is associated with both reduced central 5-HT function and an increased incidence of depression. This study tested the hypothesis that the reduced 5-HT function returns to normal with thyroxine replacement therapy. Seven hypothyroid patients were tested before and after adequate thyroxine replacement. Cortisol and prolactin responses to d-fenfluramine, a centrally acting 5-HT-releasing agent, were used as an index of central (hypothalamic) 5-HT responsiveness. 5-HT-mediated cortisol responses were significantly higher after thyroxine replacement. Basal prolactin levels were reduced, but 5-HT-mediated prolactin responses were not significantly higher after treatment, perhaps due to the pre-treatment responses being elevated by the direct stimulatory effects of hypothyroidism itself on pituitary prolactin secretion. Depressive symptomatology improved with thyroxine. TSH levels were positively related to depressive symptomatology, and inversely to cortisol responses. Depressive symptomatology was inversely related to cortisol responses. These findings thus provide further support that central 5-HT neurotransmission is affected by hypothyroidism. They also suggest that the reduction in 5-HT responsiveness is reversible with thyroxine replacement therapy.
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PMID:Thyroxine replacement increases central 5-hydroxytryptamine activity and reduces depressive symptoms in hypothyroidism. 881 68

Six Welsh gelding ponies (weight 246 +/- 6 kg) were premedicated with 0.03 mg/kg of acepromazine intravenously (i.v.) followed by 0.02 mg/kg of detomidine i.v. Anaesthesia was induced with 2 mg/kg of ketamine i.v. Ponies were intubated and lay in left lateral recumbency. On one occasion anaesthesia was maintained for 2 h using 1.2% halothane in oxygen. The same group of ponies were anaesthetized 1 month later using the same induction regime and anaesthesia was maintained with a combination of detomidine, ketamine and guaiphenesin, while the ponies breathed oxygen-enriched air. Electrocardiogram, heart rate, mean arterial blood pressure, cardiac output, respiratory rate, blood gases, temperature, haematocrit, glucose, lactate and cortisol were measured and cardiac index and systemic vascular resistance were calculated in both groups. Beta-endorphin, met-enkephalin, dynorphin, arginine vasopressin (AVP), adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and catecholamines were measured in the halothane anaesthesia group only and 11-deoxycortisol during total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) only. Cardiorespiratory depression was more marked during halothane anaesthesia. Hyperglycaemia developed in both groups. Lactate and AVP increased during halothane anaesthesia. Cortisol increased during halothane and decreased during TIVA. There were no changes in the other hormones during anaesthesia. Recovery was smooth in both groups. TIVA produced better cardiorespiratory performance and suppressed the endocrine stress response observed during halothane anaesthesia.
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PMID:Cardiorespiratory, endocrine and metabolic changes in ponies undergoing intravenous or inhalation anaesthesia. 886 52

An oral d-fenfluramine neuroendocrine challenge test was carried out in 17 women with premenstrual depression and 14 controls, twice in each subject, once in the late luteal phase when mood change was likely to be at its worst (i.e. premenstrual) and once postmenstrually. Women weighing < 65 kg received 15 mg, the remainder 30 mg of d-fenfluramine. Although there was considerable individual variability, a substantial average prolactin response was observed in both groups but no phase, group or group x phase interaction effects were found. Oestradiol levels were significantly higher during the postmenstrual test but showed no relationship to prolactin response. Cortisol showed a more modest response to the drug and a phase effect was found, with cortisol increase being greater during the postmenstrual test in both groups. In contrast to earlier findings with i.v. L-tryptophan challenge, the present study failed to show any difference in neuroendocrine response between women with premenstrual depression and controls. These results suggest that 5-hydroxy-tryptophan2 receptor function is unaltered in perimenstrual mood disorder although other interpretations of the negative findings are discussed.
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PMID:The neuroendocrine response to d-fenfluramine in women with premenstrual depression. 898 66

Total intravenous anaesthesia with ketamine-propofol offers distinct advantages over a TIVA with an opiate, including less cardiovascular and respiratory depression and an altered neuroendocrine and immunological stress response pattern. The effects of the more active stereoisomer S-(+)-ketamine in combination with propofol on the circulatory, endocrine and metabolic responses to abdominal surgery were compared with those of alfentanil-propofol. Twenty-four patients scheduled for elective hysterectomy participated in this study which had the approval of our institution's ethics committee. Anaesthesia was induced with 2 mg/kg S-(+)-ketamine or 0.05 mg/kg alfentanil, followed by 1 mg/kg propofol. Tracheal intubation was facilitated with 0.06 mg/kg vecuronium. Anaesthesia was maintained with 1 mg/kg per h S-(+)-ketamine or 0.0125 mg/kg per h alfentanil and propofol at an initial rate of 15 mg/kg per h which was reduced to 5 mg/kg per h after 30 min. Blood samples for catecholamines, cortisol and metabolites were drawn at predetermined times from before induction to 6 h postoperatively. Adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations decreased preoperatively in the ketamine group (K) from 55 to 29 pg/ml and 166 to 39 pg/ml, respectively, and then increased to postoperative maxima of 193 or 315 pg/ml. A similar pre and postoperative course was seen in the alfentanil group (A) with slightly lower (P < 0.05) intraoperative concentrations in A. Cortisol concentrations increased in K from 12 micrograms/dl to 34 micrograms/dl intraoperatively and further to a maximum of 42 micrograms/dl postoperatively. The intraoperative increase was attenuated in A and the difference between the groups was significant (P < 0.0001). The initial ketamine bolus and tracheal intubation caused a marked, transient increase of mean arterial blood pressure from the baseline value of 105 mmHg to 120 mmHg with a subsequent decrease to 88 mmHg prior to skin incision and a gradual return to baseline during surgery. TIVA with ketamine-propofol had little effect on the perioperative courses of the endocrine parameters, which behaved as they do under anesthesia with isoflurane-nitrous oxide. Plasma catecholamine concentrations were not elevated in the period between induction of anaesthesia and skin incision.
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PMID:[The effect of total intravenous anesthesia with S-(+)-ketamine/propofol on hemodynamic, endocrine and metabolic stress reactions in comparison to alfentanil/propofol in laparotomy]. 901 95

Interactions between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system and melatonin secretion have been demonstrated, but only the effects of melatonin on the activity of the HPA system have been studied in man. Alterations of melatonin secretion described as low-melatonin syndrome have been demonstrated in patients suffering from a major depressive episode, and an inhibitory factor on melatonin secretion has been postulated. We investigated whether corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which is thought to be involved in HPA abnormalities in depressed patients, can also suppress melatonin secretion in healthy volunteers. Ten healthy male human volunteers in a double-blind study design received randomized hourly intravenous injections from 08.00 to 18.00 h that contained 10 micrograms human CRH, 1 microgram adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), or placebo to simulate pulsatile hormone secretion. Plasma melatonin and cortisol responses during the treatment and nocturnal sleep electroencephalograms after the treatment were recorded. Administration of CRH reduced melatonin secretion significantly below values obtained after administration of placebo and ACTH. Cortisol secretion was significantly enhanced by ACTH in comparison to both placebo and CRH. Electroencephalographic sleep parameters revealed no treatment effects. Our findings suggest that CRH has an inhibitory effect on the pineal secretion of melatonin in normal man. A mechanism via a release of cortisol was not supported by our results. Secondary hormonal effects from changes in nocturnal sleep architecture were excluded. Further investigation of the action of CRH on melatonin secretion as well as the mutual feedback between the HPA system and the pineal gland may extend our knowledge of neuroendocrine alterations mediating the adaptive response to stress and the eventual involvement in the pathogenesis of depression.
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PMID:Corticotropin-releasing hormone inhibits melatonin secretion in healthy volunteers--a potential link to low-melatonin syndrome in depression? 914

This study investigated individual differences in the diurnal cycle of cortisol and explored their relation to several psychosocial variables and to upper-respiratory symptoms. Cortisol and daily experience were assessed for 2 days in 109 healthy employed and unemployed community residents (mean age = 36.4 +/- 12.1, 69% female); self-report upper respiratory illness (URI) symptoms were assessed for an additional 10 days. Fifty-six (51%) participants showed typical declines in cortisol during both days, 19 (17%) showed no significant diurnal pattern on both days, and 34 (31%) showed different diurnal patterns on the 2 days. Individuals with no cycles did not differ from those with normal or inconsistent cycles on demographic factors, baseline psychological measures, health behaviors, or daily experiences over the two assessment days. Individuals without cortisol cycles, however, reported fewer URI symptoms than the remaining subjects. That 17% of our sample did not exhibit diurnal cycles of cortisol was surprising, given established views of normal endocrine function. Although average daily level of cortisol is related to a number of psychosocial and psychiatric factors (e.g. stress and depression), pattern of diurnal cycle was not related to any demographic or psychosocial measures in this study. The finding that flat cycles were related to fewer reports of URI symptoms suggests that perturbations in cycle may be related to processes associated with symptom susceptibility or symptom expression.
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PMID:Individual differences in the diurnal cycle of cortisol. 914 31

Administration of hormones to humans and animals results in specific effects on the sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) and nocturnal hormone secretion. Studies with pulsatile administration of various neuropeptides in young and old normal controls and in patients with depression suggest they play a key role in sleep-endocrine regulation. Growth hormone (GH)-releasing hormone (GHRH) stimulates GH and slow wave sleep (SWS) and inhibits cortisol, whereas corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) exerts opposite effects. Changes in the GHRH:CRH ratio contribute to sleep-endocrine aberrations during normal ageing and acute depression. In addition, galanin and neuropeptide Y promote sleep, whereas, in the elderly, somatostatin impairs sleep. The rapid eye movement (REM)-nonREM cycle is modulated by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. Cortisol stimulates SWS and GH, probably by feedback inhibition of CRH. Neuroactive steroids exert specific effects on the sleep EEG, which can be explained by gamma-aminobutyric acid(A) receptor modulation.
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PMID:Effects of hormones on sleep. 955 Jan 12


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