Hatzinger M, Seifritz E, Hemmeter U, Holsboer-Trachsler E
Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Basel.
Psychiatr Prax. 1994 Sep;21(5):199-203.
A case of systemic lupus erythematodes (SLE) with development of a delusional depression is presented. Psychiatric symptoms in patients with SLE and in patients treated with glucocorticoids are discussed. The main psychiatric side effects of a therapy with steroids are a dose-dependent, reversible dementia like syndrome and a probably not dose-dependent provocation of psychosis. Furthermore the role of the dysregulation of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in major depression is stressed and consequences for psychopharmacological treatment are emphasized.
