Post-dexamethasone cortisol correlates
with severity of depression before and
during carbamazepine treatment in women but not men

Authors: Osuch, Elizabeth A.¹; Cora-Locatelli, Gabriela²; Frye, Mark A.³; Huggins, Teresa²; Kimbrell, Timothy A.⁴; Ketter, Terence A.⁵; Callahan, Ann M.²; Post, Robert M.²

Source: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, Volume 104, Number 5, November 2001 , pp. 397-401(5)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

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Abstract:

Objective: Previous studies show a state-dependent relationship between depression and post-dexamethasone suppression test (DST) cortisol level, as well as differences in DST response with age and gender.

Method: In this study, 74 research in-patients with affective disorders were given the DST on placebo and in a subgroup following treatment with carbamazepine. Depression was evaluated twice daily with the Bunney-Hamburg (BH) rating scale. Data were examined for the total subject population, by gender and by menopausal status in women.

Results: A robust positive correlation was observed between depression severity and post-DST cortisol in pre- and postmenopausal females, but not in males. This relationship persisted in women when restudied on a stable dose of carbamazepine (n=42).

Conclusion: The pathophysiological implications of this selective positive relationship between severity of depression and post-DST cortisol in women, but not men, should be explored further.

Keywords: dexamethasone; cortisol; depression; gender; menopause; carbamazepine

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, 2: Biological Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, 3: UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, 4: North Little Rock VA Medical Center, North Little Rock, Arkansas and 5: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA

Publication date: 2001-11-01