Corticosteroid and growth hormone responses to methylamphetamine in depressive illness.

It is suggested that, if depressed patients have deficient noradrenergic function at central alpha-adrenergic receptors, then they will also have impaired corticosteroid responses to methylamphetamine but unaltered growth hormone responses. This prediction has been confirmed when the responses of a group of patients with endogenous depression were compared with the responses of a group of patients with other functional psychoses, a group of patients with reactive depression, and a group of patients with other psychiatric diagnoses. These findings support the hypothesis that there is a functional deficiency of noradrenaline at some central alpha-adrenergic receptors.