Maes M, Vandevelde R, Suy E
Psychiatric Center Sint-Jozef, Munsterbilzen, Belgium.
J Affect Disord. 1989 Sep-Oct;17(2):173-82. doi: 10.1016/0165-0327(89)90040-2.
To investigate the interrelationships between the noradrenergic and serotonergic systems and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, we measured the excretion of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) and free cortisol (UFC) in 24-h urine both before and after loading with 2 g L-tryptophan (L-TRP) orally in 24 healthy controls and 33 depressed patients categorized according to DSM-III. Loading with L-TRP reduced MHPG excretion significantly by 56% in major depressives, whereas in healthy controls and in minor depressives no significant effects were observed. Although basal MHPG did not differ among these study groups, loading with L-TRP resulted in MHPG excretion in major depressives being significantly lower than in healthy controls and minor depressives. Loading with L-TRP increased UFC significantly by 49% only in major depressives with associated features. After L-TRP those patients exhibited significantly increased UFC as compared with all other depressives and controls, whereas basal UFC values did not differ among the study groups. In baseline conditions there were no significant correlations between MHPG and UFC excretion.
为了研究去甲肾上腺素能和5-羟色胺能系统与下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴之间的相互关系，我们对24名健康对照者和33名根据《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第三版（DSM-III）分类的抑郁症患者，在口服2克L-色氨酸（L-TRP）前后，测定了24小时尿液中3-甲氧基-4-羟基苯乙二醇（MHPG）和游离皮质醇（UFC）的排泄量。在重度抑郁症患者中，服用L-TRP使MHPG排泄量显著降低了56%，而在健康对照者和轻度抑郁症患者中未观察到显著影响。尽管这些研究组之间的基础MHPG没有差异，但服用L-TRP后，重度抑郁症患者的MHPG排泄量显著低于健康对照者和轻度抑郁症患者。仅在伴有相关特征的重度抑郁症患者中，服用L-TRP使UFC显著增加了49%。服用L-TRP后，与所有其他抑郁症患者和对照者相比，这些患者的UFC显著增加，而基础UFC值在各研究组之间没有差异。在基线条件下，MHPG和UFC排泄量之间没有显著相关性。
