title: Diagnostic performance of basal free cortisol/18-hydroxy-11-deoxycorticosterone (18-OH-DOC) ratio in endogenous depression: comparison with the dexamethasone suppression test.
abstract: We assessed the 8:00 AM ratio of free cortisol/18-hydroxy-11-deoxycorticosterone (18-OH-DOC) in 56 endogenous depressive inpatients and in 22 normal volunteers. A ratio higher than 40 was associated with a diagnostic sensitivity for endogenous depression of 75%, a specificity of 95.5%, and a diagnostic confidence of 97.7%. These diagnostic results were at least equivalent to the Dexamethasone Suppression Test (DST) using a cortisol cut-off limit of 5 micrograms/dl. This may thus represent a simpler procedure than the DST in the diagnostic analysis of endogenous depression.
mesh_terms: D015070:18-Hydroxydesoxycorticosterone / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003900:Desoxycorticosterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D003907:Dexamethasone; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D015070:18-Hydroxydesoxycorticosterone; D003900:Desoxycorticosterone; D003907:Dexamethasone; D006854:Hydrocortisone