Figure 13.

Comparison of the 24-hour profile of plasma cortisol in normal nonobese adults (left), patients with pituitary-dependent Cushing’s disease (center), and patients with untreated major depression of the unipolar subtype (right). For each condition, a representative example is shown in the top panel and mean (+ SEM) profiles from eight to 10 subjects are shown in the bottom panel. [Redrawn from E. Van Cauter: Physiology and pathology of circadian rhythms. In: Edwards CW, Lincoln DW, eds. Recent Advances in Endocrinology and Metabolism. Vol. 3. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, UK, 1989:109–134 (435), with permission.]