Effect of estrogens on the dexamethasone suppression test in nondepressed women.
It is often suggested that estrogens may cause false-positive dexamethasone suppression test (DST) results. In this study of nine healthy, non-depressed women, DSTs were performed at baseline, immediately following administration of 21 days of oral contraceptives containing either 50 or 80 micrograms of mestranol (a synthetic estrogen) in combination with 1 mg of norethindrone (a synthetic progesterone), and 1 month after discontinuing the oral contraceptives. All subjects had post-dexamethasone cortisol levels less than or equal to 5 micrograms/dl during the study with the exception of two subjects in the mestranol 80 microgram group who had positive DSTs immediately following oral contraceptive administration; one of these subjects continued to have a positive DST 1 month later. DST results should be interpreted with caution if high dose estrogens are taken concurrently or have been recently discontinued.
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000378:metabolism*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D008656:Mestranol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D009640:Norethindrone / Q000494:pharmacology; D013997:Time Factors
D004338:Drug Combinations; D004967:Estrogens; D003907:Dexamethasone; D008656:Mestranol; D009640:Norethindrone; D006854:Hydrocortisone