우울장애 환자의 혈장 Norepinephrine치

Plasma Norepinephrine Level in Depressed Patients

The original catecholamine theory proposed that central noradrenergic neurotransmission is excessive in mania and diminished in depression. Several investigations have not supported this idea, and in fact, have provided increasing evidence favoring hyperactive noradrenergic functioning in patients with depression. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation between depression and peripheral noradrenergic functioning by measuring the plasma norepinephrine levels. The method of measuring was high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. Subjects consisted of 20 patients with prominent depression who were treated at the Department of neuropsychiatry of Inje College of Medicine, Paik Hospital, Seoul from Dec. 1987 to Jul. 1988. The controls consisted of 20 medical personnels of the same hosptial The results were as following: 1) The mean plasma level of norepinephrine was not significantly different between males and females, but it tended to be higher in males of depressed patients and otherwise higher in females of controls. 2) The mean plasma level of norepinerphrine was higher in depressed patients than in controls(P〈0.01).