Pain sensitivity, evoked potentials, and the dexamethasone suppression test in depressed patients.
Nonsuppression of cortisol following dexamethasone may identify a biologically homogeneous subgroup of psychiatric patients. This article reports two studies examining pain sensitivity and sensory inhibition measured by evoked potential augmenting/reducing in dexamethasone test (DST) suppressors and nonsuppressors. Since nonsuppression may be related to elevated levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and, perhaps, endogenous opiates, pain sensitivity and augmenting/reducing may differ between suppressors and nonsuppressors. Results indicate that nonsuppressors lack sensory inhibition and that evoked potential augmenting/reducing is correlated strongly with pain sensitivity only in nonsuppressors. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the DST identifies biologically different subgroups of depression.
D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003907:Dexamethasone; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds
D003907:Dexamethasone; D006854:Hydrocortisone