Cortisol feedback during the HPA quiescent period in patients with major depression.
OBJECTIVE
The authors tested the hypothesis that patients with major depression have a defect in the mechanism by which cortisol exerts negative feedback on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis during the HPA axis quiescent period.


METHODS
Twenty-nine patients with major depression and 25 healthy comparison subjects were randomly assigned to administration of 15 mg cortisol or placebo infused over 2 hours beginning at 7:00 p.m. Cortisol and ACTH levels were measured at baseline and every 30 minutes from 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.


RESULTS
Differences between the patients and the comparison subjects in the ACTH response to the cortisol infusion, relative to the ACTH response to placebo, were not found.


CONCLUSIONS
The results provide some evidence that patients with major depression do not have an abnormality of cortisol feedback during the HPA axis quiescent period.
Posener
J A
JA
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. posenerj@medicine.wustl.edu
DeBattista
C
C
Williams
G H
GH
Schatzberg
A F
AF
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000328:Adult; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000502:physiology*; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; C007133:hydrocortisone hemisuccinate; D006854:Hydrocortisone