Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T02:46:33.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Dexamethasone Suppression Test in Psychotic versus Non-psychotic Endogenous Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Zoltán Rihmer*
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nervous and Mental Diseases, Budapest 27, Pf. 1. 1281 Hungary
Mihály Arató
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nervous and Mental Diseases, Budapest 27, Pf. 1. 1281 Hungary
Erika Szádoczky
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nervous and Mental Diseases, Budapest 27, Pf. 1. 1281 Hungary
Katalin Révai
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nervous and Mental Diseases, Budapest 27, Pf. 1. 1281 Hungary
Erzsébet Demeter
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nervous and Mental Diseases, Budapest 27, Pf. 1. 1281 Hungary
Sandor György
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nervous and Mental Diseases, Budapest 27, Pf. 1. 1281 Hungary
Pal Udvarhelyi
Affiliation:
National Institute for Nervous and Mental Diseases, Budapest 27, Pf. 1. 1281 Hungary
*
Correspondence

Summary

The authors investigated the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) in 93 female patients with primary (endogenous) major depression; in 20 female paranoid schizophrenics, and in 17 healthy females. Depressed patients had a significantly higher rate of abnormal DST response and significantly higher post-dexamethasone serum cortisol levels than schizophrenics and normal controls. The unipolar and bipolar depressives showed a similar profile of DST abnormalities. Depressed patients with psychotic features had a significantly higher rate of positive DST results than non-psychotic patients.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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

Avery, D. & Lumbrano, A. (1979) Depression treated with imipramine and ECT. — The Decarolis study reconsidered. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 559–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carroll, B. J., Greden, J. F., Feinberg, M., James, N. MeI., Haskett, R. F., Steiner, M. & Tarika, J., (1980) Neuroendocrine dysfunction in genetic subtypes of primary unipolar depression. Psychiatry Research, 2, 251–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carroll, B. J. Feinberg, M., Greden, J. F., Tarika, J., Albala, A. A., Haskett, R. R., James, N. MeI., Kronfol, Z., Lohr, N., Steiner, M., Devigne, J. P. & Young, E. (1981) A specific laboratory test for the diagnosis of melancholia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 1522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charney, D. S. & Nelson, J. C. (1981) Delusional and non-delusional unipolar depression: Further evidence for distinct subtypes. American Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 328–33.Google Scholar
Coppen, A., Abou-Saleh, M., Millin, P., Metcalfe, M., Harwood, J. & Bailey, J. (1983) Dexamethasone suppression test in depression and other psychiatric illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 498504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deleon-Jones, F., Maas, J. W., Dekirmerjijan, H. & Sanchez, J. (1975) Diagnostic subgroups of affective disorders and their urinary excretion of catecholamine metabalites. American Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 1141–8Google Scholar
Glassman, A. H. & Roose, S. P. Delusional depression. — A distinct clinical entity? Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 424–7.Google Scholar
Greden, J. F., Gardner, R., King, D., Grunhaus, L., Carroll, B. J. & Kronfol, Z. (1983) Dexamethasone suppression tests in antidepressant treatment of melnacholia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 40, 493500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helms, P. M. & Smith, R. E. (1983) Recurrent psychotic depression. —Evidence of diagnostic stability. Journal of Affective Disorders, 5, 51–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kantor, S. J. & Glassman, A. H. (1977) Delusional depression.— Natural history and response to treatment. British Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 351–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kasper, S. & Beckmann, H. (1983) Dexamethasone suppression test in pluridiagnostic approach: its relationship to psychopathological and clinical variables. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 68, 31–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kupfer, D. D., Foster, F. G., Coble, P. A., McPartland, R. J. & Ulrich, R. F. (1978) The application of EEG sleep for the differential diagnosis of affective disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 6974 Google ScholarPubMed
Meltzer, H. Y., Cho, H. W., Carroll, B. J. & Russo, P. (1976) Serum dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity in the affective psychoses and schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 33, 585–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendlewicz, J., Charles, G. & Franckson, J. M. (1982) The dexamethasone suppression test in affective disorders.— Relationship to clinical and genetic subgroups. British Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 464–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nuller, J. L. & Ostroumova, M. M. (1980) Resistance to inhibiting effect of dexamethasone in patients with endogenous depression. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 61, 169–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rihmer, Z. & Arató, M. (1982) Depression and diabetes mellitus. — A study of the relationship between serum Cortisol and blood sugar levels in patients with endogenous depression. Neuropsychobiology, 8, 315–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Rudorfer, M., Hwu, H.-G. & Clayton, P. J. (1982) Dexamethasone suppression test in primary depression: Significance of family history and psychosis. Biological Psychiatry, 17, 41–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Schatzberg, A. F., Rothschild, A. J., Stahl, J. B., Bond, T. C., Rosenbaum, A. H., Lofgren, S. B., MacLaughlin, R. A., Sullivan, M. A. & Cole, J. O. (1983) The dexamethasone suppression test: Identification of subtypes of depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 8891 Google ScholarPubMed
Schlesser, M. A., Winokur, G. & Sherman, B. M. (1980) Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in depressive illness. Archives of General Psychiatry, 37, 737–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1978) Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for a selected group of functional disorders. Third edition. New York State, Psychiatric Institute. New York.Google Scholar
Sweeney, D., Nelson, C., Bowers, M., Maas, J. & Heninger, G. (1978) Delusional versus non-delusional depression.— Neurochemical differences. (ltr. to ed.) Lancet, 2, 100–1.Google Scholar
Targum, S. D., Rosen, L. N., Delisi, L. E., Weinberger, D. R. & Citrin, C. M. (1983) Cerebral ventricular size in major depressive disorder.— Association with delusional symptoms. Biological Psychiatry, 18, 329–36.Google ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.