The corticotropin releasing factor stimulation test in patients with major depression: Relationship to dexamethasone suppression test results

Abstract

Abstract Depressed patients have been reported to exhibit both a blunted ACTH response to corticotropin‐releasing factor (CRF) and abnormal suppression of plasma cortisol following the administration of dexamethasone. The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between these two abnormalities. Twenty‐three depressed patients and eighteen control subjects received both a standard CRF stimulation test and the dexamethasone suppression test (DST). Nonsuppressors on the DST exhibited a blunted ACTH response to CRF; DST suppressors exhibited a normal ACTH response to CRF. This suggests that the two abnormalities of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis are related and may be due to similar pathopbysiological mechanisms. Depression 1:133–136 (1993). © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.