Glucose Tolerance in Depression

Abstract

There have been many reports which suggest that there may be abnormal glucose metabolism in severe depression. Glycosuria was first reported nearly 60 years ago (Allers, 1914). In 1919, using an oral glucose tolerance test, Kooy observed decreased tolerance in a heterogeneous group of mentally ill patients which included melancholics. Since then many investigators have reported decreased glucose tolerance in depressive illness, and the extensive literature is reviewed by McFarland and Goldstein (1939) and Altschule (1953). Oral glucose tolerance tests have usually shown high or delayed peaks and a slow return to fasting levels, although the latter are usually reported normal. Intravenous glucose tolerance tests have also shown results nearer those obtained in diabetic patients than in normal subjects. Pryce (1958) reported decreased glucose tolerance with intravenous tests in a sample of 20 depressed patients, and he also found that glucose tolerance did not alter significantly after clinical recovery. Glucose supplements were added to the diet of six patients prior to testing, but he concluded that these supplements did not appear to alter glucose tolerance.

Impact of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram on insulin sensitivity, leptin and basal cortisol secretion in depressed and non-depressed euglycemic women of reproductive age

“…In fact, the prevalence of depression in the female population has been postulated to be between 5 and 9%, and psychometric studies suggest that the lifetime risk in women may approach 25% [1]. Since major depression in women is an established risk factor for menstrual cycle dysfunction and infertility [2,3], it comes as no surprise that depression has been associated with multiple endocrine and metabolic disturbances, including: (1) Disruption of the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis [4][5][6][7]; (2) Insulin resistance [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]; (3) Impaired diabetic control [1,15]; (4) Thyroid dysfunction [16]; (5) Somatotropin hypersecretion [16]; (6) Sympathetic nervous system activation [17,18]; (7) Central serotonergic hypofunctioning [19]; (8) Lower serum cholesterol concentrations [20]; and (9) Weight gain or loss [21,22].…”