URINARY FREE CORTISOL EXCRETION IN CHRONIC-FATIGUE-SYNDROME, MAJOR DEPRESSION AND IN HEALTHY-VOLUNTEERS

Urinary free cortisol excretion (UFC) was compared in 21 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), in 10 melancholic depressives and in 15 healthy controls. Patients with depression had UFC values which wer e significantly higher than healthy comparison subjects, whereas UFC e xcretion of CFS patients was significantly lower than the comparison g roup. These findings are in keeping with currently held hypotheses of hyperactivity and hypoactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal ( HPA) axis in depression and chronic fatigue syndrome respectively. Fiv e of the 21 CFS patients had a co-morbid depressive illness. This sub- group retained the profile of UFC excretion of those with CFS alone, s uggesting a different pathophysiological basis for depressive symptoms in CFS. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.