HPA axis disturbance in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Twenty nondepressed outpatients with DSM-III obsessive-compulsive disorder entered a 10-week placebo-controlled study of clomipramine and underwent a 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test (DST) at baseline; 11 had a repeat DST at the end of treatment: Nonsuppression was rare. When compared to 82 previously described outpatients with panic disorder studied in a similar fashion, OCD patients had postdexamethasone cortisol values that were substantially lower and more stable over time. Results within the OCD group closely resembled those from a group of never-ill controls.
Coryell
W H
WH
Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242.
Black
D W
DW
Kelly
M W
MW
Noyes
R
R
D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D002997:Clomipramine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000503:physiopathology*
D003907:Dexamethasone; D002997:Clomipramine; D006854:Hydrocortisone