Endocrine and behavioural responses to methylphenidate in depression

Twenty patients with a major depressive disorder and 20 control subjects were subjected to a 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test (DST) and a challenge with intravenous (IV) methylphenidate (MP)(0·3 mg/kg). None of the controls, but 9 depressives, were DST non-suppressors. Among the depressives there...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological medicine 1986-08, Vol.16 (3), p.531-540
Main Authors: Joyce, Peter R., Donald, Richard A., Nicholls, M. Gary, Livesey, John H., Abbott, Robyn M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Depressive Disorder - blood
Depressive Disorder - diagnosis
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Dexamethasone
Epinephrine - blood
Female
Growth Hormone - blood
Humans
Hydrocortisone - blood
Male
Medical sciences
Methylphenidate
Middle Aged
Neuropharmacology
Norepinephrine - blood
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Prolactin - blood
Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease)
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopharmacology
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Summary:Twenty patients with a major depressive disorder and 20 control subjects were subjected to a 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test (DST) and a challenge with intravenous (IV) methylphenidate (MP)(0·3 mg/kg). None of the controls, but 9 depressives, were DST non-suppressors. Among the depressives there were correlations between DST-cortisol and baseline (4 p.m.) levels of cortisol, growth hormone, prolactin and adrenaline. Compared with the controls the depressives had a decreased cortisol response and an enhanced adrenaline response to the MP challenge. The decreased cortisol response was not related to either DST-cortisol or baseline cortisol, but was correlated with the mood response to MP.
ISSN:0033-2917
1469-8978
DOI:10.1017/S0033291700010291