The corticotropin-releasing hormone stimulation test in chronic schizophrenia.
During a drug-free period a group of schizophrenic subjects (N = 9) showed normal mean basal plasma ACTH and cortisol levels in association with normal plasma ACTH and cortisol responses to an infusion of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). Administration of fluphenazine had no effect on basal ACTH and cortisol levels or their responses to CRH (N = 8). These data differ from those previously reported in depressed patients, who showed elevated basal cortisol values in association with a blunted ACTH response to CRH, and add to a growing body of literature which suggests that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal regulation is less disturbed in schizophrenia than in depression.
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D006854:Hydrocortisone