PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ENDOCRINE ABNORMALITIES IN REFUGEES FROM EAST-GERMANY .2. SERUM LEVELS OF CORTISOL, PROLACTIN, LUTEINIZING-HORMONE, FOLLICLE-STIMULATING-HORMONE, AND TESTOSTERONE

We investigated afternoon serum levels of cortisol, prolactin, luteini zing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and testosteron e in a group of 84 refugees who had fled from East to West Germany and suffered from psychiatric disorders within 6 weeks of their arrival i n West Berlin. The mean hormone levels were compared with those of hea lthy control subjects. Cortisol levels were lower and LH levels were h igher in the patients than in the control subjects, but only at trend levels of significance. No differences were found between the prolacti n, FSH, or testosterone concentrations of the two groups. The patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) had a significantly higher mean cortisol level than the mean levels in the subgroups in whom posttraum atic stress disorder, dysthymia, and adjustment disorder were diagnose d. It can be concluded that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis ma y ''adapt'' during severe long-term psychological stress and that long -term stress may be only one of the neurochemical mechanisms underlyin g the hypercortisolemia in patients with MDD.