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Article
May 1984

Growth Hormone and Prolactin Response to Apomorphine in Schizophrenia and the Major Affective Disorders: Relation to Duration of Illness and Depressive Symptoms

Author Affiliations

From the Departments of Psychiatry (Drs Meltzer, Kolakowska, Fang, Robertson, Lewine, and Strahilevitz) and Medicine (Dr Fang), University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago (Drs Meltzer, Robertson, Lewine, Strahilevitz, and Busch and Mr Fogg).

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1984;41(5):512-519. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1984.01790160098013
Abstract

• The responses of serum prolactin (PRL) and growth hormone (GH) to the dopamine agonist apomorphine hydrochloride (0.75 mg subcutaneously) were studied in a large group of unmedicated hospitalized patients with functional psychoses. There were no differences in the GH response in various diagnostic groups. The PRL response was greater in patients with affective disorders. The GH response was inversely related to total duration of illness in the entire sample of patients, but this correlation was independent of age effect only in the group of patients with major depression. In schizophrenics, the effect of the two factors, age and duration of the illness, could not be separated. The apomorphine-induced GH response was significantly correlated with psychosis ratings and negative symptom scale scores. The apomorphine-induced PRL suppression correlated significantly with various measures of depression across diagnostic groups.

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