title: Urinary steroid metabolites and 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity in patients with unipolar recurrent major depression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the present study was to obtain comprehensive information on steroid metabolism in depressed patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  24-h urinary steroids were measured by gas chromatography in patients with unipolar recurrent major depression (URMD) compared to controls, and an index of relative activity of the 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11beta-HSD) enzyme was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of etiocholanolone (E) (p < 0.05), beta-cortolone (beta-CL) (p < 0.01) were significantly decreased, while levels of allo-tetrahydrocorticosterone (aTHB) (p < 0.05) and cortisol (F) (p < 0.01) were elevated in depressed women. The levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) (p < 0.01), tetrahydrocorticosterone (THB) (p < 0.01), beta-CL (p < 0.01), and aTHB (p < 0.05) were found significantly decreased in depressed men. The index of 11beta-HSD activity (p < 0.01) was significantly decreased in patients in both sexes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The sample is limited to only urine samples of patient with URMD; the correlation between the severity of depression and F and DHEA was not analyzed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our investigations confirmed that URMD associated with altered steroid metabolism, which shows gender differences, pointing to the different stress sensibility of women. These differences may be the cause as well as the consequence of the major depression (MD).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioanalysis, Faculty of Medicine, University of Pécs, 12 Szigeti Street, H-7624, Hungary. Viktoria.Poor@AOK.PTE.hu
authors.forename: Viktória
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Poór
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Juricskay
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gáti
authors.forename: Péter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Osváth
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tényi
mesh_terms: D042842:11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases / Q000097:blood*; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000652:urine*; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000652:urine; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000523:psychology; D005043:Etiocholanolone / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011278:Pregnanes / Q000652:urine; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D011278:Pregnanes; C003545:cortolone; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; C003676:tetrahydrocorticosterone; D005043:Etiocholanolone; D042842:11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases; D003345:Corticosterone; D006854:Hydrocortisone