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1 results

  • 4 - Estrogen and depressive illness in women

  • from Part II - Biological basis
  • Edited by Jay D. Amsterdam, University of Pennsylvania, Mady Hornig, University of California, Irvine, Andrew A. Nierenberg
  • Book:
    Treatment-Resistant Mood Disorders
    Published online:
    25 March 2010
    Print publication:
    28 June 2001, pp 80-95

  • Summary

    One of the most consistent findings in the epidemiology of mental disorders is the higher prevalence of depressive illness in women than in men. This chapter reviews neurological effects of estrogen that have been elucidated since the 1980s so as to provide a scientific basis for possible biological mechanisms of action of this sex steroid on affective states. Estrogen induces RNA and protein synthesis via genomic mechanisms, which, in turn, cause changes in levels of specific gene products, such as neurotransmitter synthesizing enzymes. The chapter discusses the clinical studies of estrogenic effects on mood in non-clinical and in clinical populations with regard to the therapeutic use of estrogen in depressive disorders in women. Although there have been few systematic investigations of the use of estrogen in treatment-resistant depression, several controlled studies and case reports serve to provide some evidence of its effects.