Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) logoLink to British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.)
. 1986 Mar 29;292(6524):859–861. doi: 10.1136/bmj.292.6524.859

Glucocorticoid receptors and depression.

L J Whalley, N Borthwick, D Copolov, H Dick, J E Christie, G Fink
PMCID: PMC1339970  PMID: 3083911

Abstract

The number of glucocorticoid receptor sites in lymphocytes was estimated and plasma cortisol concentrations measured in 17 depressed patients, 12 patients with chronic schizophrenia, and 31 healthy control subjects. The number of receptor sites was significantly lower in the depressed patients than in either the controls or the patients with chronic schizophrenia, but there were no differences between the groups in the dissociation constants of the glucocorticoid receptors or the plasma cortisol concentrations. When two control subjects were studied intensively over 28 hours a slight diurnal variation in the number of glucocorticoid receptors was detected. The lower numbers of glucocorticoid receptors in the lymphocytes of depressed patients may explain why such patients, who often have hypercortisolaemia, do not show the clinical features of excess production of cortisol.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Angelucci L., Patacchioli F. R., Bohus B., De Kloet R. Serotoninergic innervation and glucocorticoid binding in the hippocampus: relevance to depression. Adv Biochem Psychopharmacol. 1982;31:365–370. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bar R. S., Roth J. Insulin receptor status in disease states of man. Arch Intern Med. 1977 Apr;137(4):474–481. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Christie J. E., Whalley L. J., Dick H., Blackwood D. H., Blackburn I. M., Fink G. Raised plasma cortisol concentrations a feature of drug-free psychotics and not specific for depression. Br J Psychiatry. 1986 Jan;148:58–65. doi: 10.1192/bjp.148.1.58. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chrousos G. P., Loriaux D. L., Brandon D., Tomita M., Vingerhoeds A. C., Merriam G. R., Johnson E. O., Lipsett M. B. Primary cortisol resistance: a familial syndrome and an animal model. J Steroid Biochem. 1983 Jul;19(1B):567–575. doi: 10.1016/0022-4731(83)90219-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. HAMILTON M. A rating scale for depression. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1960 Feb;23:56–62. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.23.1.56. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Halbreich U., Asnis G. M., Shindledecker R., Zumoff B., Nathan R. S. Cortisol secretion in endogenous depression. II. Time-related functions. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1985 Sep;42(9):909–914. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1985.01790320081011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Jänne O., Kontula K., Vihko R., Feil P. D., Bardin C. W. Progesterone receptor and regulation of progestin action in mammalian tissues. Med Biol. 1978 Oct;56(5):225–248. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kontula K., Andersson L. C., Huttunen M., Pelkonen R. Reduced level of cellular glucocorticoid receptors in patients with anorexia nervosa. Horm Metab Res. 1982 Nov;14(11):619–620. doi: 10.1055/s-2007-1019100. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kontula K., Pelkonen R., Andersson L., Sivula A. Glucocorticoid receptors in adrenocorticoid disorders. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1980 Sep;51(3):654–657. doi: 10.1210/jcem-51-3-654. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kraft N., Hodgson A. J., Funder J. W. Glucocorticoid receptor and effector mechanisms: a comparison of the corticosensitive mouse with the corticoresistant guinea pig. Endocrinology. 1979 Feb;104(2):344–349. doi: 10.1210/endo-104-2-344. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lowy M. T., Reder A. T., Antel J. P., Meltzer H. Y. Glucocorticoid resistance in depression: the dexamethasone suppression test and lymphocyte sensitivity to dexamethasone. Am J Psychiatry. 1984 Nov;141(11):1365–1370. doi: 10.1176/ajp.141.11.1365. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Sapolsky R. M., Krey L. C., McEwen B. S. Glucocorticoid-sensitive hippocampal neurons are involved in terminating the adrenocortical stress response. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Oct;81(19):6174–6177. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.19.6174. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Seth J., Brown L. M. A simple radioimmunoassay for plasma cortisol. Clin Chim Acta. 1978 May 16;86(1):109–120. doi: 10.1016/0009-8981(78)90465-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Spitzer R. L., Endicott J., Robins E. Research diagnostic criteria: rationale and reliability. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1978 Jun;35(6):773–782. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1978.01770300115013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.) are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES