title: Plasma levels of arginine vasopressin elevated in patients with major depression.
abstract: Mentally healthy subjects show increased plasma concentrations of the neuropeptides, arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OT), under conditions of stress, but data are lacking about plasma concentrations of AVP and OT in patients with major depression. We thus assessed plasma concentrations of AVP and OT in patients with major depression (n = 52) and healthy controls (n = 37). Mean plasma AVP concentrations were higher in the group of depressed patients than in controls. A subgroup of 16 patients showed very high levels of plasma AVP, but no other feature differentiating this subgroup from the other patients was found. In-patients showed higher plasma AVP levels than out-patients, and melancholic patients had higher plasma AVP levels than did nonmelancholic patients. Plasma AVP levels were slightly related to psychomotor retardation and significantly inversely to neuroticism. Patients' plasma OT concentrations had a wider range than in controls. AVP and AVP-mediated functions may be a factor in the clinical picture of depression, possibly by influencing the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Londen
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Goekoop
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: van Kempen
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Frankhuijzen-Sierevogel
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Wiegant
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: van der Velde
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Wied
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000097:blood*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000097:blood; D010551:Personality; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012964:Sodium / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D010121:Oxytocin; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D012964:Sodium; D006854:Hydrocortisone