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Insulin-induced hypoglycaemic response and release of growth hormone in depressed patients and healthy controls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

David J. Brunswick ,
Alan Frazer ,
Stephen H. Koslow ,
Regina Casper ,
Peter E. Stokes ,
Eli Robins  and
John M. Davis
David J. Brunswick*
Affiliation:
Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD; Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago, IL; Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY; Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
Alan Frazer
Affiliation:
Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD; Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago, IL; Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY; Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
Stephen H. Koslow
Affiliation:
Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD; Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago, IL; Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY; Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
Regina Casper
Affiliation:
Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD; Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago, IL; Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY; Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
Peter E. Stokes
Affiliation:
Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD; Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago, IL; Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY; Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
Eli Robins
Affiliation:
Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD; Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago, IL; Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY; Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
John M. Davis
Affiliation:
Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD; Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago, IL; Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY; Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr David J. Brunswick, Neuro- psychopharmacology Unit (151E), Veterans Administration Medical Center, University and Woodland Avenues, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
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Synopsis

As part of the Collaborative Study of the Psychobiology of Depression, we have examined the pretreatment growth hormone response (ΔGH) to insulin (0·1 U/kg) and the magnitude of the hypoglycaemic response in a large number of well-defined depressed patients (N = 132) and healthy controls (N = 80). After applying rigorous exclusion criteria, data were analysed from 93 patients and 66 controls for blood glucose response and from 56 patients and 52 controls for ΔGH. Depressed patients, either unipolar or bipolar, showed less of a fall in glucose than controls. A weak association was found between the magnitude of the fall in glucose and the severity of depression. No significant differences were found in values for ΔGH between the unipolar or bipolar depressed patients and controls either for males, pre-menopausal or postmenopausal females, or the total female group. These data do not support previous claims of a lowered ΔGH response to insulin in depressed patients. However, the resistance to hypoglycaemia seen in the depressed patients is consistent with previous reports.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , February 1988 , pp. 79 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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