Citation

Westrin A, Ekman R, Träskman-Bendz L. Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. 1999; 9(3): 205-211.

Affiliation

Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Lund University, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10208289

Abstract

In order to receive a further understanding of stress-regulation in depressed suicide attempters, peptides that are supposed to be related to the stress system (the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the autonomic nervous system) were studied in plasma. When compared with healthy controls, cortisol was high (p<0.001) and corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) appeared to be low (p<0.001) in patients who had recently attempted suicide. Patients who had repeatedly attempted suicide had the lowest NPY. A correlation between NPY and cortisol (p<0.05) was found in suicidal patients with depression NOS, whereas beta-endorphins correlated with cortisol (p<0.01) in suicidal patients with major depressive disorder. A postdexamethasone decrease of NPY was noted in the controls but not in the patients. These results suggest stress system alterations in suicidal patients with mood disorders.

Language: en