van Praag H M
Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1978 May;57(5):389-404. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1978.tb06908.x.
This article discusses the results of recent neuroendocrinological research in depressions. The abnormalities found in a given category of vital depressive patients--cortisol hypersecretion, decreased growth hormone response to insulin hypoglycaemia and decreased luteinizing hormone secretion in menopause--are believed to be due to deficient noradrenalin-(NA)-ergic activity in the hypothalmus. Thus explained, they support the so-called MA (monoamine) hypothesis, which postulates that a functional NA deficiency in the brain plays a role in the pathogenesis of certain types of vital depression. Disorders in certain central MA-ergic systems are predictive of disorders in the hormone secretion of the anterior pituitary. Inversely, disorders in the hormone secretion of the anterior pituitary can be indicative of disorders in the MA-ergic transmission in the hypothalamus. Consequently we can expect a convergence of transmitter research and neuroendocrinological research--two lines of research which have so far been largely separated in studies of human individuals.
本文讨论了近期关于抑郁症的神经内分泌学研究结果。在特定类型的重度抑郁症患者中发现的异常情况——皮质醇分泌过多、生长激素对胰岛素低血糖的反应降低以及绝经后促黄体生成素分泌减少——被认为是由于下丘脑去甲肾上腺素（NA）能活性不足所致。如此解释的话，它们支持了所谓的单胺（MA）假说，该假说假定大脑中功能性NA缺乏在某些类型的重度抑郁症发病机制中起作用。某些中枢单胺能系统的紊乱可预测垂体前叶激素分泌的紊乱。反之，垂体前叶激素分泌的紊乱可能表明下丘脑单胺能传递存在紊乱。因此，我们可以预期递质研究和神经内分泌学研究将会趋同——这两条研究路线在迄今为止对人类个体的研究中在很大程度上是相互分离的。
