[Pathogenetic mechanisms of depressive states].

Data on the changes in the EEGs, the tone of the vegetative system and peripheral vessels, the metabolism of biogenic amines (catecholamines and serotonin), and adrenal function in patients with depressions of both endogenous and exogenous genesis were analyzed. Considerable changes in the somatic status of patients with manic-depressive psychosis during its remission and, particularly, during its preparoxysmal period were shown to be associated with the activity of the vagoinsular and sympatheticoadrenal homeostatic mechanisms through a positive feed-back system between them and the phasic vegetative shifts in viscero-endocrine changes. A recurrent psychotic attack develops in association with the sympathicotonic syndrome in various clinical forms; however, later on, it is marked by a homogeneous character of the cerebral and somatic changes in the patients. Some specific elements of the intercentral relationships in depression are demonstrated. In depressions of other origins, the central-peripheral regulatory relationships display a heterogeneous character. The role of involutional and menopausal changes in the pathogenesis of depressions in the advanced age is also analyzed.