TY - JOUR
T1 - Hypercortisolemia and hippocampal changes in depression
AU - Axelson, David A.
AU - Doraiswamy, P. Murali
AU - McDonald, William M.
AU - Boyko, Orest B.
AU - Tupler, Larry A.
AU - Patterson, Linda J.
AU - Nemeroff, Charles B.
AU - Ellinwood, Everett H.
AU - Krishnan, K. Ranga Rama
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgment . The research reported was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH-42088 and MH-44716) .
PY - 1993/5
Y1 - 1993/5
N2 - Hypercortisolemia is a frequently observed abnormality in patients with major depression. It has been hypothesized that the hippocampus, as a major feedback site for glucocorticoids, is involved in the pathophysiology of hypercortisolemia. Some have in fact posited that the hippocampus is marked by diminished size in depressed patients with hypercortisolemia. We tested this hypothesis by examining the relationship between hippocampal volume, assessed with magnetic resonance imaging, and hypercortisolemia using the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) in a group of 19 depressed patients. No differences in hippocampal volume were observed between patients and control subjects (n = 30). Within the patient group, DST suppressors did not differ from DST nonsuppressors in hippocampal volume. However, a relationship between dhippocampal volume and 11 p.m. cortisol concentration was observed after covariance adjustment for age and sex. Furthermore, significant negative correlations were onserved between hippocampal volume and both age of depressive onset and number of hospitalizations. The results of this study therefore provide limited support for the hypothesis regarding an essential role of the hippocampus in the neuroendocrine elevation of glucocorticoids in depression.
AB - Hypercortisolemia is a frequently observed abnormality in patients with major depression. It has been hypothesized that the hippocampus, as a major feedback site for glucocorticoids, is involved in the pathophysiology of hypercortisolemia. Some have in fact posited that the hippocampus is marked by diminished size in depressed patients with hypercortisolemia. We tested this hypothesis by examining the relationship between hippocampal volume, assessed with magnetic resonance imaging, and hypercortisolemia using the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) in a group of 19 depressed patients. No differences in hippocampal volume were observed between patients and control subjects (n = 30). Within the patient group, DST suppressors did not differ from DST nonsuppressors in hippocampal volume. However, a relationship between dhippocampal volume and 11 p.m. cortisol concentration was observed after covariance adjustment for age and sex. Furthermore, significant negative correlations were onserved between hippocampal volume and both age of depressive onset and number of hospitalizations. The results of this study therefore provide limited support for the hypothesis regarding an essential role of the hippocampus in the neuroendocrine elevation of glucocorticoids in depression.
KW - Affective disorder
KW - cortisol
KW - dexamethasone suppression test
KW - magnetic resonance imaging
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U2 - 10.1016/0165-1781(93)90046-J
DO - 10.1016/0165-1781(93)90046-J
M3 - Article
C2 - 8341769
AN - SCOPUS:0027335570
VL - 47
SP - 163
EP - 173
JO - Psychiatry Research
JF - Psychiatry Research
SN - 0165-1781
IS - 2
ER -
