Serotonergic 'vulnerability' in affective disorder: a study of the tryptophan depletion test and relationships between peripheral and central serotonin indexes in citalopram-responders.

A double-blind study of the tryptophan depletion (TD) challenge was performed on a sample consisting of 20 patients with a major depressive disorder in clinical remission after citalopram treatment. TD was induced by the intake of 43 g of an amino acid mixture containing the five large neutral amino acids. The control group received the same mixture, to which 2.

Age, alcoholism and depression are associated with low levels of urinary melatonin.

Two normal control populations, separated by 8,000 miles and 24 degrees of latitude, had similar six-month mean values for overnight urinary melatonin concentrations. These values were significantly higher than six-month values for depressed subjects and abstinent alcoholic subjects, while the means for the two clinical populations were similar. Age and urinary melatonin concentration in the control and clinical populations were inversely related, but the slopes of the linear regression equations were ten times steeper for the control populations than for the clinical populations.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis interaction with prostaglandins.

1. The major PGE2 plasma metabolite, 15-keto-13, 14-dihydro-PGE (PGEM) was measured during metyrapone, dexamethasone and ACTH tests in order to elucidate if plasma PGE was affected by short term changes of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis function in man. 2.

Electroconvulsive therapy and plasma prostaglandin E2 metabolite in major depressive disorder.

1. Animal experiments show that PGE2 affects the release of ACTH and corticosteroids. In depressed subjects, plasma concentrations of the same hormones are increased immediately following ECT.