Differences in nocturnal melatonin secretion between melancholic depressed patients and control subjects.
The authors took multiple serum samples for measurement of melatonin between 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. in seven male depressed patients with melancholia and five healthy male control subjects and found that melancholic patients had a significantly lower rise of melatonin. They also compared a second, separate group of 14 women and five men suffering from melancholic depression with seven healthy male control subjects and nine depressed women without melancholia. The melancholic patients had a significantly lower concentration of serum melatonin at 11:00 p.m. than either the control subjects or the nonmelancholic depressed patients. These findings support the possibility that the functioning of the pineal gland is altered in these patients.
D000328:Adult; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D003907:Dexamethasone; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology
D003907:Dexamethasone; D008550:Melatonin; D006854:Hydrocortisone