Vnitr Lek 2007, 53(10):1040-1046

Cortisol levels are more closely associated with depressiveness and other psychopathologies than catecholamine levels

Z. Hess^1,*, J. Podlipný², H. Rosolová¹, O. Topolčan³, B. Petrlová¹

¹ II. interní klinika Lékařské fakulty UK a FN Plzeň, přednosta doc. MUDr. Jan Filipovský, CSc.

² Psychiatrická klinika Lékařské fakulty UK a FN Plzeň, přednosta doc. MUDr. Jiří Beran, CSc.

³ Oddělení imunoanalýzy Lékařské fakulty UK a FN Plzeň, přednosta prof. MUDr. Ondřej Topolčan, CSc.

Objective:
Quantification of changes in the levels of the above hormones, i.e. cortisol, adrenalin, noradrenalin and dopamine depending on the presence of depressive symptoms and other psychopathological symptoms. Sample: 259 randomly selected individuals from the population of the city of Pilsen.

Method:
Zung self-assessment scale and SCL-90 questionnaire were used to assess depressiveness and other psychopathologies. Serum cortisol levels were measured, as well as the levels of cortisol and catecholamine (adrenalin, noradrenalin and dopamine) in a 24-hour urine sample. The studied sample was divided, by an arbitrarily defined limit, into a group with a higher and a group with a lower excretion of the monitored hormones.

Results:
The group with cortisol excretion higher than 300 nmol/24 h had a significantly higher score in terms of the SCL-90 questionnaire interpersonal sensitiveness, depression, anxiety, phobia, paranoidism and psychoticism as compared with the group with cortisol excretion below 300 nmol/24 h (p < 0.05). The group with cortisol excretion above 300 nmol/24 h had also a significantly higher score on Zung's self-assessment depression scale as compared with the group with cortisol excretion below 300 nmol/24 h (p < 0.05). Division of the sample according to the score on Zung's self-assessment depression scale (SDS index ł 50) has shown that women with a record of depressive symptoms had a statistically significant higher of urinary cortisol excretion in 24 hours (average 219.40 as compared with 191.64 nmol/24 h, respectively, p = 0.02). The group of men with depressive symptoms according to the score obtained on Zung self-assessment scale only showed a trend towards higher urinary noradrenalin excretion in 24 hours (average of 69.77 as compared with 63.84 μg/24 h, p = 0.17).

Conclusion:
As shown by the above results, there is a link between 24-hour urinary cortisol excretion levels and the monitored parameters of psychic condition.

Keywords: depression; cortisol; catecholamines

Received: June 17, 2005; Accepted: April 16, 2007; Published: October 1, 2007  Show citation