Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T13:22:26.437Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The GH response to clonidine in endogenous as compared with reactive depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

S. A. Checkley*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
I. B. Glass
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
C. Thompson
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
T. Corn
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
P. Robinson
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1 Address for correspondence: Dr S. A. Checkley. Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park.Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.

Synopsis

The growth hormone (GH) response to clonidine was measured in 10 patients meeting standardized criteria for ‘endogenous’ depression and in 10 patients individually matched for age and sex but meeting the corresponding criteria for ‘reactive’ depression. In a paired comparison of patients with reactive and endogenous depression (matched for age and sex), the GH response to clonidine was less in the endogenous member of the pair in 8 out of 10 cases. These findings are interpreted as evidence of a defect at alpha2 adrenoceptors in neuroendocrine systems in endogenous as compared with reactive depression.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Carney, M. W. P., Roth, M. & Garside, R. F. (1965). The diagnosis of depressive symptoms and the prediction of ECT response. British Journal of Psychiatry 111, 659674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, B. J., Feinberg, M., Creden, J. F., Tarika, J., Albala, A. A., Haskett, R. F., James, N. Mcl., Kronfol, Z., Lohr, N., Steiner, M., de Vigne, J. P. & Young, E. (1981). A specific laboratory test for the diagnosis of melancholia: standardization, validation and clinical utility. Archives of General Psychiatry 38, 1522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charney, D. S., Heninger, G. R., Steinberg, D. E., Redmond, D. E., Leckman, J. F., Maas, J. W. & Roth, R. H. (1982). Adrenergic receptor sensitivity in depression: effects of clonidine in depressed patients and healthy patients. Archives of General Psychiatry 39, 290294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Checkley, S. A. (1979). Corticosteroid and growth hormone responses to methylamphetamine in depressive illness. Psychological Medicine 9, 107115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Checkley, S. A. (1980). Neuroendocrine tests of monoamine function in man: a review of basic theory and its application to the study of depressive illness. Psychological Medicine 10, 3553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Checkley, S. A., Slade, A. P. & Shur, E. (1981). Growth hormone and other responses to clonidine in patients with endogenous depression. British Journal of Psychiatry 138, 5155.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Czernik, A., Kleesiek, K. & Steinmeyer, E. M. (1980). Änderungen neuroendokrinologischer Parameter im Verlauf von Depressionen. Der Nervenartz 51, 662667.Google Scholar
Endicott, J. & Spitzer, R. (1978). A diagnostic interview. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 35, 837844.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eriksson, E., Eden, S. & Modigh, K. (1982). Up and down regulation of central post synaptic alpha, receptors reflected in the growth hormone response to clonidine in reserpine pretreated rats. Psychopharmacology 77, 327331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glass, I. B., Checkley, S. A., Shur, E. & Dawling, S. (1982). The effect of desipramine upon central adrenergic functions in depressed patients. British Journal of Psychiatry 141, 372376.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, M. (1967). Development of a rating scale for primary depressive illness. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 6, 278296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Honer, W., Glass, I. B., Thompson, C., Corn, T. & Checkley, S. A. (1984). The GH and other responses to clonidine in normal subjects at different times of day. Psychoneuroendocrinology (in the press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendell, R. E. (1976). The classification of depressions: a review of contemporary confusion. British Journal of Psychiatry 129, 1528.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laakmann, G. (1980). Beinflussung der Hypophysenvorderlappen-Hormonsekretion durch Antidepressive bei gesunden Probanden, neurotisch und endogen depressiven Patienten. Der Nervenarzt 51, 725732.Google Scholar
McWilliam, J. R. & Meldrum, B. S. (1983). Noradrenergic regulation of growth hormone secretion in the baboon. Endocrinology 112, 254259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matussek, N., Ackenhail, M., Hippius, H., Muller, F., Schroder, H. Th., Schultes, H. & Wasilewski, B. (1980). Effect of clonidine on growth hormone release in psychiatric patients and controls. Psychiatry Research 2, 2536.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, J. C., Charney, D. S. & Vingiano, A. W. (1978). False-positive diagnosis with affective-disorder criteria. Lancet ii, 12521253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rockhold, R. W. & Caldwell, R. M. (1980). Cardiovascular effects following clonidine microinjection into the nucleus tractus solitarii of the rat. Neuropharmacology 19, 919922.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rudolph, C. D., Kaplan, S. L. & Ganong, W. F. (1980). Sites at which clonidine acts to affect blood pressure and the secretion of renin, growth hormone and ACTH. Neuroendocrinology 3, 121128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, J. N., Sandrew, B. B. & Wang, S. C. (1978). CNS site of clonidine induced hypotension: a microintophoretic study of cardiovascular neurons. Brain Research 151, 127133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siever, L. J., Uhde, T. W., Silberman, E. K., Jimerson, D. C., Aloi, J. A., Post, R. M. & Murphy, D. L. (1982). The growth hormone response to clonidine as a probe of noradrenergic receptor responsiveness in affective disorder patients and controls. Psychiatry Research 6, 171183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1978). Research Diagnostic Criteria: rationale and reliability. Archives of Generai Psychiatry 35, 773790.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Timmermans, P. B. M. W. U., Schoop, A. M. C., Kwa, H. Y. & Van Zwieten, P. A. (1981). Characterization of the α adrenoceptors participating in the central hypotensive and sedative effects of clonidine using yohimbine, rauwolscine and coryanthine. European Journal of Pharmacology 70, 715.CrossRefGoogle Scholar