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Depression, Urinary Free Cortisol Excretion and Lymphocyte Function

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Ziad Kronfol ,
J. Daniel House ,
Joseph Silva Jr ,
John Greden  and
Bernard J. Carroll
Ziad Kronfol*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
J. Daniel House
Affiliation:
Department of Family Practice, University of Iowa
Joseph Silva Jr
Affiliation:
University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
John Greden
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Bernard J. Carroll
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, 27710
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

An impairment in lymphocyte response to mitogen stimulation, a correlate of cell-mediated immunity, has been reported in patients with depressive illness. To investigate whether such impairment in lymphocyte function is related to excessive secretion of cortisol, an immunosuppressive hormone, we compared mitogen-induced lymphocyte proliferation in three groups of subjects: (1) depressed patients with elevated 24-hour urinary free Cortisol (UFC) excretion; (2) depressed patients with normal UFC excretion; and (3) normal controls. Depressed patients in both groups showed significant reductions in lymphocyte mitogenic activity, in comparison with the normal controls, but the two depressive groups did not significantly differ from each other in their lymphocytic responses to any of the mitogens used. Furthermore, no significant correlations were found, within depressed patients, between UFC excretion and lymphocyte mitogenic responses. Depression is therefore associated with an impairment in lymphocyte function that cannot be explained solely on the basis of increased cortisol secretion.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 148 , Issue 1 , January 1986 , pp. 70 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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