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Major Depressive Episode and Low Dose Dexamethasone Suppression Test
Author(s) -
Sarai Masakazu,
Taniguchi Norio,
Kagomoto Takao,
Kameda Hideaki,
Uema Takeshi,
Hishikawa Yasuo
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1819.1982.tb00261.x
Subject(s) - dexamethasone suppression test , major depressive episode , depression (economics) , psychology , dexamethasone , hydrocortisone , blood sampling , medicine , psychiatry , economics , macroeconomics
The authors studied the validity of a low dose (0.5 mg) dexamethasone suppression test (DST) in identifying depression. Nine patients who met the criteria of major depressive episode (MDE) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, another nine psychiatric patients and one normal subject underwent the DST. At least one of the two blood samples obtained either at 8 a.m. or at 2 p.m. from each of the nine patients with MDE showed a Cortisol concentration of over 5.0 μg/dl, while the Cortisol concentration in the other 10 subjects was uniformly suppressed under this level. All the patients with MDE could be identified by nonsuppression of the Cortisol secretion at 8 a.m. or at 2 p.m. An “early escape” phenomenon in depressed patients reported by Carroll et al. (1976) was absent in a 0.5 mg DST, and the blood samples at 8 p.m. were less useful for identifying the depressive patient. The reason why the one point sampling method used by previous investigators was insufficient to identify the depressed patient was discussed.