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A longitudinal evaluation of dexamethasone and cortisol plasma concentrations in the dexamethasone suppression test before and during treatment with antidepressant drugs
Author(s) -
Guthrie S. K.,
Vartanian L.,
Grunhaus L.,
Hariharan M.,
Pande A.,
Haskett R. F.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1990.tb03073.x
Subject(s) - dexamethasone suppression test , dexamethasone , antidepressant , medicine , endocrinology , psychology , hydrocortisone , glucocorticoid , pharmacology , psychiatry , hippocampus
Thirty depressed in‐ and outpatients received serial dexamethasone suppression tests (DSTs). Plasma dexamethasone and cortisol concentrations were drawn at 1600 on the day following a 1‐mg oral dose of dexamethasone. The first DST was performed after patients were drug‐free for a period of 1 week; the second, third, and fourth DSTs while patients received antidepressant medication. Dexamethasone and cortisol concentrations drawn in the drug‐free period correlated significantly. The cortisol to dexamethasone ratio changed significantly with time in DST nonsuppressors, suggesting that nonsuppression is associated with an altered pharmacodynamic response of the hypothalamopituitary‐adrenal axis to dexamethasone during depression. When dexamethasone concentrations from the drug‐free period were compared with those drawn during antidepressant treatment, no significant differences were noted.