Clinical use of the dexamethasone suppression test for psychiatric disorders. Need for sensitive method for measuring corticosteroids and cautious interpretation of results.
The corticosteroid levels in 256 plasma samples from 112 patients with the clinical diagnosis of depression were assayed in two ways: by the routine method (sensitivity of 5 to 40 micrograms/dl) and by a newer, more sensitive method (sensitivity of 1 to 10 micrograms/dl). Of the 152 "true-negative" samples measured by the more sensitive method, 81 (53%) were reported as positive ("false-positive") by the routine method. The routine method does not yield accurate results on borderline levels of corticosteroids (5 to 7 micrograms/dl) for the dexamethasone suppression test for psychiatric disorders.
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000097:blood; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003907:Dexamethasone; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D008722:Methods
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D003907:Dexamethasone