Combined dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone test in acute and remitted manic patients, in acute depression, and in normal controls: I.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system (HPA)-function in patients with mania (n = 11), depression (n = 11, unipolar) and in control subjects (n = 11) was studied; six of the acutely manic patients were reevaluated after a symptom-free interval of at least 6 months. The combined dexamethasone-suppression/human CRH-challenge test was used to probe HPA-system function. After CRH and dexamethasone pretreatment, ACTH and cortisol release were significantly increased in both manic and depressed patients in comparison to the control group. In the remitted patients with mania, a significant decrease in hormonal release after DEX and CRH was evident when compared to the acute manic episode, but the degree of CRH-stimulated hormone secretion in these remitted patients was still significantly larger than in normal controls. This study demonstrates that acute and remitted manic episodes are associated with a profoundly dysregulated HPA-system activity.