Morning cortisol as a risk factor for subsequent major depressive disorder in adult women.

Background: Whether individual differences in cortisol contribute to subsequent major depressive disorder (MDD) is unknown.

Aims: To determine whether premorbid levels of salivary cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were associated with subsequent MDD and how these related to psychosocial factors known to increase the risk for MDD.

Method: Adult women (n=116) were recruited from general practices.

Cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and DHEA sulfate in the cerebrospinal fluid of man: relation to blood levels and the effects of age.

The relation between blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and its sulfate (DHEAS) was measured in 62 subjects aged 3-85 yr old, fitted with ventriculo-peritoneal or lumbar-peritoneal shunts for a variety of diagnoses. There were 36 males and 36 females. Forty-eight subjects were not taking exogenous corticosteroids; the other 14 were receiving either systemic or local steroids.

Adrenal secretion and major depression in 8- to 16-year-olds, II. Influence of co-morbidity at presentation.

The association between high evening cortisol and low morning DHEA and the pattern of co-morbid diagnoses in 82 cases of major depressive disorder in 8- to 16-year-olds has been analysed. There was a significant association between the presence of high evening cortisol and co-morbid dysthymia. This was independent of age or sex.

Adrenal secretion during major depression in 8- to 16-year-olds, I. Altered diurnal rhythms in salivary cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) at presentation.

The association between basal cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), its sulphate (DHEAS) and major depression was investigated in 8- to 16-year-olds. Eighty-two subjects with major depression, 25 non-depressed psychiatric cases and 40 community controls were systematically assessed for current mental state and hormone levels at 08.00, 12.

Regional expression of c-fos antigen in the basal forebrain following intraventricular infusions of angiotensin and its modulation by drinking either water or saline.

The expression of c-fos protein was examined in the basal forebrains of male rats 60 min following intracerebroventricular infusions of 250 pmol angiotensin II. Levels of corticosterone and vasopressin were also measured at the same time point. In animals not allowed access to water after infusion, angiotensin II induced intense c-fos expression in a band of neurons extending throughout the anterior region of the third ventricle region, including the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis, the median preoptic nucleus (nucleus medianus) and the subfornical organ.