Multiple hormonal responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia in depressed patients and normal volunteers

Studies have shown that some depressed patients may demonstrate multiple hormonal response abnormalities after a neuroendocrine challenge test; this finding has suggested the strategy of measuring several hormones after an insulin tolerance test. The authors gave insulin tolerance tests to 72 depressed patients and 51 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteer control subjects and measured glucose, cortisol, prolactin, and human growth hormone (GH) responses. Although there were no differences between patients and control subjects in the mean decrease in glucose levels after the insulin tolerance test, depressed men demonstrated significantly lower prolactin and GH levels after the test.