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Science 22 December 1972:
Vol. 178. no. 4067, pp. 1304 - 1305
DOI: 10.1126/science.178.4067.1304
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Articles

Growth Hormone Responses to L-Dopa in Depressed Patients

Edward J. Sachar 1, Grace Mushrush 2, Mark Perlow 2, Elliot D. Weitzman 2, and Jon Sassin 2

1 Department of Psychiatry, Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10467
2 Department of Neurology, Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Plasma human growth hormone responses to oral administration of 500 milligrams of L-dopa were analyzed in three groups of subjects: normals, age 20 to 32; normals, age 48 to 68; and unipolar depressed patients, age 45 to 68. While only 7 percent of the young normals had deficient human growth hormone responses to this stimulus, 36 percent of the older normals and 77 percent of the depressed patients failed to have adequate responses, suggesting an effect of age and a further effect of depressive illness. Because the release of human growth hormone appears to be closely related to brain catecholamine metabolism, the deficient responses in the depressed patients may provide further support to the concept of a neurochemical defect in depressive illness.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Growth Hormone and Prolactin Response to Apomorphine in Schizophrenia and the Major Affective Disorders: Relation to Duration of Illness and Depressive Symptoms.
H. Y. Meltzer, T. Kolakowska, V. S. Fang, L. Fogg, A. Robertson, R. Lewine, M. Strahilevitz, and D. Busch (1984)
Arch Gen Psychiatry 41, 512-519
   Abstract »    PDF »
Human Growth Hormone Response to Levodopa: Relation to Menopause, Depression, and Plasma Dopa Concentration.
E. J. Sachar, N. Altman, P. H. Gruen, A. Glassman, F. S. Halpern, and J. Sassin (1975)
Arch Gen Psychiatry 32, 502-503
   Abstract »    PDF »
Growth Hormone Responses to Hypoglycemia in Postmenopausal Depressed Women.
P. H. Gruen, E. J. Sachar, N. Altman, and J. Sassin (1975)
Arch Gen Psychiatry 32, 31-33
   Abstract »    PDF »


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