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A Comparison of the Growth Hormone Responses to Clonidine and Apomorphine in the Same Patients with Endogenous Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

T. H. Corn ,
A. S. Hale ,
C. Thompson ,
P. K. Bridges  and
S. A. Checkley
T. H. Corn
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF
A. S. Hale
Affiliation:
Geoffrey Knight Psychosurgical Unit, Brook General Hospital, Shooters Hill Road, London, SE18 4IW
C. Thompson
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry
P. K. Bridges
Affiliation:
Geoffrey Knight Psychosurgical Unit, Brook General Hospital, and Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, Guy's Hospital Medical School, London
S. A. Checkley
Affiliation:
The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF
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Summary

The growth hormone responses to clonidine (1.3 μg/kgm) and apomorphine (0.005 mg/kgm) have been measured in 8 drug free patients with endogenous depression. In these patients the growth hormone responses to clonidine were significantly smaller than to apomorphine. As these doses of clonidine and apomorphine have previously been reported to cause similar growth hormone responses in normal subjects, these findings support the hypothesis of a defect in the adrenergic but not the dopaminergic regulation of growth hormone in patients with endogenous depression.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 144 , Issue 6 , June 1984 , pp. 636 - 639
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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