Differences in nocturnal melatonin secretion between melancholic depressed patients and control subjects

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Abstract
Multiple serum samples were taken for measurement of melatonin between 1630 h and 0730 h in 7 male depressed patients with melancholia and 5 healthy male control subjects. Melancholic patients had a significantly lower rise of melatonin. A separate group of 14 women and 5 men suffering from melancholic depression was compared with 7 healthy male control subjects and 9 depressed women without melancholia. The melancholic patients had a significantly lower concentration of serum melatonin at 11:00 p.m. than either the control subjects or the nonmelancholic depressed patients. Evidently, the functioning of the pineal gland is altered in these patients.