Platelet serotonin-binding and dexamethasone suppression test in melancholia and dysthymia

Abstract

SummaryPlatelet serotonin-binding (Bmax), using tritiated-seroionin as the ligand, was determined in 75 patients suffering from major depression with melancholia and in 26 patients diagnosed from dysthymic disorder. Twenty-five normal subjects were used as a control group. The melancholic group had significantly lower Bmax values (mean: 6.7 ± 6.1 pmol/108 platelets) than either dysthymic (9.3 ± 3.9 pmol/108 platelets) or control (9.2 ± 4.8 pmol/108 platelets) groups, while there were no significant differences between the two latter groups. There was also a significant difference on postdexamethasone Cortisol between melancholic (6.3 ± 7.1 μg/dL) and dysthymic (1.4 ± 1.4 μg/dL) groups, with a higher rate of nonsuppressors in melancholic groups. Although both tests were abnormal in the melancholic group, no relationship was found between platelet serotonin-binding and the dexaniethasone suppression test.

Early Maladaptive Schemas in Chronic Depression.

“…Studies of biological variables have yet to identify consistent differences between chronic and nonchronic groups. Studies of hypercortisolemia (Gasto et al, 1994;Miller, Norman, & Dow, 1986), growth hormone secretion (Maes, Vandewoude, Maes, Schott, & Cosyns, 1989), sleep physiology (Appelboom-Fondu, Kerkhofs, & Mendlewicz, 1988), and neurotransmitter functioning (Ravindran, Bialik, Brown, & Lapierre, 1994) revealed that the abnormalities in chronic depression are similar to or less pronounced than those found in nonchronic cases (see Riso, Miyatake, & Thase, 2002, for a review). Some evidence has been found for increased rates of subclinical hypothyroidism for subgroups of individuals with chronic depression (Scott, Barker, & Eccleston, 1988;Tappy, Randin, Schwed, Werthermimer, & Memarchand-Beraud, 1987).…”