Am J Psychiatry 154:10, October 1997BRIEF REPORTS Luteinizing Hormone Pulse Characteristics in Depressed Women

were compared to determine whether hypothalamic dysregulation in depression extends to the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Method: The subjects were 10 depressed and 13 normal comparison women admitted to a clinical research center. For each woman, an intravenous line was started and blood was withdrawn every 10 minutes for 8 hours. Blood samples were assayed for LH and LH pulse characteristics determined by using the computerized cluster algorithm of Veldhuis and Johnson. Results: The depressed women differed significantly from the comparison women in LH pulse amplitude, rhythmicity, and area under the curve. Con-clusions: Major depressive disorder is associated with abnormal regulation of luteinizing hor-mone. Gonadotropin regulation may provide a hormonal link between major depressive dis-order and impaired fertility. (Am J Psychiatry 1997; 154:1454–1455) M ajor depression is a common disorder that willaffect at least 10 % of women (DSM-III-R, p. 229). It is associated with abnormal hypothalamic regulation of a variety of neuroendocrine systems. If this dysregulation affects the hypothalamic-pitui