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Endocrine and behavioural responses to methylphenidate in depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Peter R. Joyce ,
Richard A. Donald ,
M. Gary Nicholls ,
John H. Livesey  and
Robyn M. Abbott
Peter R. Joyce*
Affiliation:
Sunnyside Hospital, Christchurch, Department of Endocrinology, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
Richard A. Donald
Affiliation:
Sunnyside Hospital, Christchurch, Department of Endocrinology, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
M. Gary Nicholls
Affiliation:
Sunnyside Hospital, Christchurch, Department of Endocrinology, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
John H. Livesey
Affiliation:
Sunnyside Hospital, Christchurch, Department of Endocrinology, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
Robyn M. Abbott
Affiliation:
Sunnyside Hospital, Christchurch, Department of Endocrinology, The Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr P. R. Joyce, Sunnyside Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand
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Synopsis

Twenty patients with a major depressive disorder and 20 control subjects were subjected to a 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test (DST) and a challenge with intravenous (IV) methylphenidate (MP)(0·3 mg/kg). None of the controls, but 9 depressives, were DST non-suppressors. Among the depressives there were correlations between DST-cortisol and baseline (4 p.m.) levels of cortisol, growth hormone, prolactin and adrenaline. Compared with the controls the depressives had a decreased cortisol response and an enhanced adrenaline response to the MP challenge. The decreased cortisol response was not related to either DST-cortisol or baseline cortisol, but was correlated with the mood response to MP.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , August 1986 , pp. 531 - 540
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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