Imipramine effect on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to hypoglycemia.

Six control subjects underwent an insulin tolerance test before and after the administration of therapeutic doses of imipramine hydrochloride for 10 days to investigate effects of tricyclic antidepressants on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to hypoglycemia. The mean steady-state tricyclic blood level was 141 (SD = 66) ng/ml. Baseline levels of glucose, cortisol, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) were not affected by the administration of imipramine.

Arecoline-associated changes in open-field behavior following swim stress in the rat. A possible relationship to water temperature.

The rat exhibits a reduction in movement in an open field following a 14-day course of forced swim stress at 12 degrees C. The decrease in movement is greater in rats receiving arecoline relative to those receiving saline prior to placement in the open field. The authors report that when water temperature is increased to 20 degrees, there is a categorical difference in the results.

Multiple steroid hormone levels in depressed patients and normal controls before and after exogenous ACTH.

Forty depressed patients and 36 age- and sex-matched controls were given 250 micrograms ACTH1-24 by IV bolus. Plasma steroid hormone levels were measured prior to and 60 min after ACTH administration. The depressed patients had significantly greater cortisol (F), 11-deoxycortisol (S), androstenedione (AD), and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (17 alpha-OHP) responses (delta; p less than 0.

Chronic swim stress enhances the motoric inhibiting effects of a muscarinic agonist.

The authors previously demonstrated that chronic inescapable swim stress and footshock increase the capacity of a fixed dose of a muscarinic agonist to produce hypothermia in the rat. This project was designed to determine whether chronic inescapable swim stress in cold water would render a low dose of a muscarinic agonist, devoid of an effect on motor behavior in the naive rat (i.e.

Winter depression responds to an open trial of tranylcypromine.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a disturbance of mood bearing a fixed relationship to season. Winter depression is characterized by the onset of a depressive syndrome in the fall or winter and spontaneous remission in the spring, this condition responds to full-spectrum, bright artificial light. In the first study assessing responsiveness of winter depression to a standard pharmacologic treatment for depression, the authors found that 14 patients meeting National Institute of Mental Health criteria for winter depression responded to treatment with tranylcypromine.