title: The dexamethasone suppression test in prepubertal depressed children.
abstract: The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) was performed in 50 hospitalized prepubertal children who met DSM-III criteria for major depressive episode, 18 hospitalized controls with a psychiatric disorder, and 18 nonhospitalized normal controls. Baseline and post-DST cortisol levels were measured at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The depressed children had consistently higher cortisol levels than the controls at baseline and post-DST. The DST was positive in 82% of depressed children, 28% of psychiatric controls, and 11% of normal controls. The results indicate that prepubertal depressed children may have abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis similar to those in adults with a major depressive illness.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003907:Dexamethasone; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D011627:Puberty
chemical_list: D003907:Dexamethasone; D006854:Hydrocortisone