title: Clinical use of the dexamethasone suppression test for psychiatric disorders. Need for sensitive method for measuring corticosteroids and cautious interpretation of results.
abstract: 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.
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000097:blood; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003907:Dexamethasone; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D008722:Methods
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D003907:Dexamethasone