[Study of intersystemic hormonal interrelations in patients with depression]. / Issledovanie mezhsistemnykh gormona'lnykh vzaimosviazei u bo'lnykh depressiei.

The serum levels of hypophysis-thyroid hormones, trophic hypophyseal hormones (STH and prolactin), and cortisol were studied in depressed patients. A total of 52 subjects were under investigation: 52 healthy persons (control), 27 depressed patients of which 8 had neurotic and 9 endogenous depression. The data point to a "concealed" hypothyroid state in depressed patients without overt clinical signs of endocrine disorders. The STH and prolactin hypophyseal secretion was upset that was evidenced by the decrease in these hormones blood serum contents (-74% and 37%, respectively). The cortisol blood level was also decreased though to a lesser degree (-15.4%). Different degrees of changes in STH and prolactin levels reflecting the hormones interrelationship, allowed the authors to recommend the STH/prolactin ratio as an additional diagnostic test for neurotic (0.230 +/- 0.058) and endogenous (0.0425 +/- 0.006) depression.

[Role of somatic factors in the clinical picture and therapy of so-called masked depressions]. / Rol' somaticheskikh faktorov v klinike i terapii tak nazyvaemykh maskirovannykh depressii.

In somatic and psychiatric examination of 38 patients with masked depression under variable somatic masks the authors have revealed clear-cut symptoms of depressions and a high rate of somatic pathology. They believe that peripheral somatic disorders determine to a certain degree both nature and projection of the somatic mask. The questions of masked depressions are discussed.

[Various aspects of the differential therapy of circular depressions]. / Nekotorye aspekty differentsirovannoi terapii tsirkuliarnykh depressii.

The structure of cyclic depressions and the efficacy of various types of therapy were studied using clinico-mathematical methods. A computerized cluster analysis revealed statistically significant ratios between individual symptoms making up the clinical picture of the depressive state and the results of one of the three variants of therapy: tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and one-stage withdrawal of psychotropic agents. The results obtained made it possible to objectively evaluate the selection of the therapeutic procedure in the treatment of various depressive states.

[Symptomatology of circular depression and prediction of the efficacy of treatment with tricyclic antidepressants]. / Simptomatika tsirkuliarnoi depressii i predskazanie éffektivnosti lecheniia tritsiklicheskimi antidepressantami.

The problem of efficacy prediction for psychopharmacotherapy of depressions is of considerable interest and urgency in view of frequently occurring resistance to antidepressants. The purpose of the present study was to study the feasibility of predicting the effectiveness of depression therapy in manic-depressive psychosis (MDP), based on the cross-sectional analysis of the patient's history (the clinical picture of the patient's condition prior to therapy) with the help of multivariate statistics. Eighty-two patients suffering from MDP with a variety of depressive states were examined. In addition to traditional descriptions, the clinical findings were documented by employing a system of standard evaluation scales. The data obtained were processed using the technique of multiple stepwise discriminant analysis. The latter resulted in the derivation of a mathematical prognostic formula allowing the prediction of tricyclic antidepressants efficacy.