Nocturnal prolactin and cortisol secretion and recovery from melancholia

Spontaneous prolactin and cortisol patterns were determined at 20 min intervals over 3 hr during the night in eight patients with melancholia, both during illness and after treatment with amitriptyline. Mean plasma prolactin levels were greater after recovery in the seven patients who responded to treatment. Mean cortisol secretion decreased upon recovery from melancholia, and such changes in two patients paralleled normalization of dexamethasone suppression test responses. The influence of assumptions of lack of interaction on the statistical significance of the analysis of variance with repeated measures for prolactin and cortisol values was evaluated.