Plasma levels of ß‐endorphin, cortisol, prolactin and growth hormone in depressed patients

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Abstract
Basal serum cortisol, growth hormone, prolactin and immunoreactive (IR) plasma ß‐endorphin levels were measured in 31 depressed patients (14 endogenous, 17 nonendogenous) undergoing the dexamethasone suppression test. The endogenously depressed patients had significantly higher (22.55 ± 1.34 μg/dl) predexamethasone cortisol levels than the nonendogenous patients (16.34 ± 1.93 μg/dl). The mean serum prolactin and growth hormone values of these two groups were not significantly different, while plasma IR‐ß‐endorphin levels of the endogenous group (40.11 ± 3.57 pg/ml) were significantly lower than those of the nonendogenous group (120.33 ± 27.98 pg/ml). Neither group showed a significant correlation between plasma IR‐ß‐endorphin and serum cortisol values. These results indicate that measurement of predexamethasone serum cortisol values and plasma IR‐ß‐endorphin could be valuable laboratory tests in the diagnosis of depression.