title: Cortisol response to ACTH infusion in depressed patients: comparison with age-, sex-, and weight-matched normal subjects.
abstract: Adrenal responsiveness to Cosyntropin (synthetic ACTH) was investigated in five patients with major depression and five individually matched normal subjects. Three hours following suppression of endogenous ACTH secretion with dexamethasone (1 mg orally), the adrenal response to a 10-min infusion of Cosyntropin (0.05 micrograms/kg body weight) was monitored for 2 1/2 hr by plasma cortisol measured at 15-min intervals. The depressed patients had significantly higher baseline plasma cortisol, but not higher baseline ACTH, than the controls. During the 3-hr post-dexamethasone (and prior to Cosyntropin infusion), the depressed patients maintained significantly higher cortisol secretion, but not higher ACTH secretion, than the controls. After Cosyntropin infusion, there were no differences in ACTH and cortisol increases between the two groups. These findings stand in contrast to previous reports of enhanced adrenal responsiveness to the administration of much larger amounts of Cosyntropin in major depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637.
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Luchins
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001835:Body Weight; D003366:Cosyntropin; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003907:Dexamethasone; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D003366:Cosyntropin; D003907:Dexamethasone; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D006854:Hydrocortisone