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The thyroid axis and desipramine treatment in depression
1Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425-0742.
Biological Psychiatry
|March 15, 1989
Summary
Tricyclic antidepressants like desipramine may improve depression by regulating thyroid function. Treatment with desipramine normalized thyroid axis function in men with major depressive disorder.
Area of Science:
- Neuroendocrinology
- Psychiatry
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Thyroid function's role in affective disorders is increasingly recognized.
- Limited research exists on tricyclic antidepressants' impact on the pituitary-thyroid axis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of desipramine (DMI) on thyroid function tests (TFTs) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).
- To explore the relationship between DMI treatment and thyroid axis regulation in major depressive disorder.
Main Methods:
- 13 men diagnosed with major depressive disorder were assessed.
- Thyroid function tests (TFTs) and TRH stimulation tests (TSH response) were measured pre- and post-desipramine treatment.
- Subjects had normal baseline TFTs and TSH in a drug-free state.
Main Results:
- Desipramine treatment led to decreased mean free thyroxine index and baseline TSH levels.
- A correlation was observed between the decrease in baseline TSH and the increase in delta TSH.
- Subtle thyroid axis dysregulations, including blunted or high TSH responses, normalized in most subjects after DMI treatment.
Conclusions:
- Desipramine treatment appears to down-regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis.
- Normalization of thyroid axis function may be a therapeutic mechanism for desipramine in treating certain depressions.
- This suggests a potential link between thyroid regulation and antidepressant efficacy.