A variety of hormones and immune system processes are responsible for how the body responds to illness. This study concentrates on how the hormone cortisol effects the release of immune system factors called cytokines.

Cortisol is a hormone produced in the adrenal glands as a response to stimulation from the pituitary gland. Abnormal levels of cortisol have been seen in several diseases such as depression and multiple sclerosis.

Cytokines are factors produced by certain white blood cells. They act by changing the cells that produce them (autocrine effect), altering other cells close to them (paracrine), and effecting cells throughout the body (endocrine effect). Cytokines are important in controlling inflammation processes.

In this study researchers would like to determine if changes in levels of hormones in the blood are associated with changes in cytokine levels. In addition, researchers would like to learn more about how cytokines respond to hormones in certain diseases.

Condition
Depressive Disorder Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic Fibromyalgia Healthy Inflammation

Further Study Details: 

Expected Total Enrollment:  130

Many of the biochemical alterations observed in people suffering from major depression are changes in the concentrations and activity of components of the generalized stress response. These include the principal hypothalamic stimulus of pituitary-adrenal activation (corticotropin releasing hormone) and the locus ceruleus/norepinephrine system. The current study attempts to provide a clearer picture of the stability of changes during the acute illness, the treatment phase and the recovery process. We particularly wish to determine whether abnormalities in HPA axis perturbability in the well-state can be demonstrated, and if so how these are related to the acutely-ill state, since this information could provide a quantifiable phenotypic marker for depression.

Genders Eligible for Study:  Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Criteria

Healthy volunteers.
Depressed patients.
Fibromyalgia patients.
Chronic fatigue patients.
Subjects must not have been treated with steroids for more than two weeks during the previous year.
Subjects must not be on chronic medications.
Subjects must not have known medical problems or any condition which interferes with their immune system's ability to respond to infections (talk with your physician if you are not sure about a particular situation).

Maryland
      National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 9000 Rockville Pike,  Bethesda,  Maryland,  20892,  United States

Study ID Numbers:  940146; 94-M-0146
Record last reviewed:  April 16, 1999
Last Updated:  December 11, 2002
Record first received:  November 3, 1999
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00001415
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2005-04-08