Lu R B, Ho S L, Ho B T, Leu S Y, Shian L R, Chen W L
J Affect Disord. 1986 May-Jun;10(3):177-84. doi: 10.1016/0165-0327(86)90002-9.
Nineteen endogenous depressive in-patients (13 with major depression and 6 with bipolar disorder-depressed) and 10 other patients with dysthymic disorder serving as the control group were given the dexamethasone suppression test (DST, 1 mg/subject). The results showed that the DST sensitivity in endogenous depressives was 73.7% and the specificity was 90%. After the patients were treated daily for 6 weeks with 150-200 mg imipramine, 88.9% of those endogenous depressive patients who previously had a positive DST response exhibited a negative response. Moreover, a significantly negative correlation was found between the CSF norepinephrine level and the pre-dexamethasone 4 p.m. plasma cortisol level in those endogenous depressed patients who had a positive DST response. Pre-treatment data also showed that the 4 p.m. plasma cortisol had a significant negative correlation with CSF dopamine. These findings suggest that endogenous depression with positive DST could be related not only to a lower norepinephrine level, but also to a lower dopamine level.
19名内源性抑郁症住院患者（13名重度抑郁症患者和6名双相情感障碍抑郁发作患者）以及10名患有恶劣心境障碍的患者作为对照组，接受了地塞米松抑制试验（DST，1毫克/受试者）。结果显示，内源性抑郁症患者中DST的敏感性为73.7%，特异性为90%。在用150 - 200毫克丙咪嗪每日治疗6周后，那些之前DST反应呈阳性的内源性抑郁症患者中有88.9%表现出阴性反应。此外，在那些DST反应呈阳性的内源性抑郁症患者中，脑脊液去甲肾上腺素水平与下午4点地塞米松前血浆皮质醇水平之间存在显著的负相关。治疗前数据还显示，下午4点的血浆皮质醇与脑脊液多巴胺存在显著的负相关。这些发现表明，DST呈阳性的内源性抑郁症不仅可能与较低的去甲肾上腺素水平有关，还可能与较低的多巴胺水平有关。
