Prepubertal endogenous major depressives hyposecrete growth hormone in response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia.

Insulin tolerance tests (ITT) were carried out during illness in 27 drug-free prepubertal children with emotional disorders: 10 fit unmodified Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for major depressive disorder endogenous subtype, 10 fit RDC for nonendogenous major depressive disorder, and 7 fit DSM-III criteria for nondepressed neurotic disorders. The endogenous depressed group hyposecreted growth hormone (GH) in this test as compared to the other groups. Since GH hyposecretion in response to ITT is a characteristic of adult endogenous depressives, the data support the validity of the diagnosis of prepubertal endogenous major depressive disorder and the hypothesis of similarity of prepubertal and adult major depressions.