[Vegetative functions and motor activity in endogenous depression. Longitudinal study on salivary secretion,...

Vegetative functions were studied in a 66-year-old-male patient with 48-h unipolar cycles of depression. Salivary secretion, body temperature, and motor activity were measured at 3-h-intervals during the day and once at night. The mood state was assessed by two self-rating scales. There was a regular alternation between 'good' and 'bad' days. Salivary secretion was higher on good days, especially in the morning (P less than 0.002, 10:00). The shape of the 24-h-prolife was different on good and bad days, with a maximum at 10:00 on good at 16:00 on bad days. The mimimum in the night was the same on both good and bad days. Body temperature was increased, as compared with normal subjects (mean 37.2 degrees C) and the diurnal variation was slight. On good days, body temperature during the day was about 0.1 degree C higher than on bad days. Motor activity (arm and leg), registrated by means of the 'activity watch', was higher (during the day) on good days. The present data give some hints for a central dyregulation of vegetative functions in endogenous depression.