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Peripheral thyroid hormone levels in treatment resistant depression.
1Regional Mood Disorders Programme, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Biological Psychiatry
|July 1, 1999
Summary
In major depression, depression severity, not thyroid hormone levels, correlates with antidepressant treatment resistance. This suggests thyroid function may not explain why some patients resist treatment.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Endocrinology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Thyroid function abnormalities are inconsistently reported in major depression.
- Inconsistencies may stem from varying stages of treatment resistance observed in studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between thyroid function and treatment resistance in major depressive disorder.
- To determine if the stage of antidepressant resistance is linked to peripheral thyroid hormone levels.
Main Methods:
- 101 patients with major depressive disorder underwent baseline thyroid function tests.
- Patients received their first antidepressant for the current episode.
- Antidepressant treatment resistance stage was assessed upon treatment completion.
Main Results:
- Depression severity was associated with the stage of antidepressant treatment resistance.
- Peripheral thyroid hormone levels did not show a significant association with treatment resistance stage.
Conclusions:
- The stage of treatment resistance does not appear to influence peripheral thyroid hormone level variability in unipolar major depression.
- Findings suggest thyroid hormones may not be a key factor in treatment resistance variability in this population.