The Relationship Between 17-Hydroxycorticosteroid Excretion and Glucose Utilization in Depressions

Many authors have observed a decrease in glucose-tolerance (G.T.) in melancholia (sec reviews by McFarland and Goldstein, 1939; Altschule, 1953). Using an intravenous test, the present author confirmed that G.T., and also body weight, were significantly lower in a group of depressions than in a matched control group (Pryce, 1958a), but that within the depressions G.T. was not related to body weight. In a subsequent study also (Pryce, 1958b) change in G.T. after treatment was not related to change in body weight nor to three measures of change in emotional state. These studies, therefore, failed to support the views that the decreased G.T. in depressions is related either to nutritional or to emotional factors.