الفهرس 
Bioiogical markers in depressionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
We studied the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system dysfunction in three of the major psychiatric disorders (depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia). the study of the HPA system dysfunction went on 3 axes : I- Measurment of 8 a.m. baseline serum cortisol level. 2- Measurment of 8 a.m. post dexamethazone serum cortisol level after giving 1 mg dexamethazone orally at 11 p.m. at the previous night. 3- The dexamethazone suppression test (DST) result. We considered post dexamethazone cortisol level of 5ug/dl or more as non suppression or positive DST, and if it is less than 5ug/dl it was consideredas suppressor or a negative DST, which is the normal response to dexamethazone. The goal of this work is to study the HPA dysfunction, specifically the DST in depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. We aim at finding out if the DST is specific for depression, or it is an indication of psychotic illness, or it merely denotes the presence of psychiatric illness whatever its nature. We studied 41 patients with major depressive disorder (according to Research Diagnostic Criteria RDC), 20 patients of generalized anxiety disorder (according to DSM 111). and 20 patients with schizophrenia (according to DSM ill), as well as 20 healthy (both physically and mentally) persons as a control group. Among the depressed patients 26 were of the endogenous subtype, and 15 non endogenous. 5 of the endogenous major depressives were classified as psychotic (having delusions and hallucinations) and 21 as non psychotic. 22 of the depressed patients were admitted to Tanta University Hospital. Department of Neuro-Psychiatry, and 19 were interviewed and examined in the outpatient clinic. For inpatients, the test was performed 1-3 days after admission. We assessed the severity of depression using the Hamilton rating scale for depression. 9 patients had score less than 18, and 32 had score of 18 or more and they considered as having sever depression.