CSF corticotropin-releasing factor-like immunoreactivity in depression and schizophrenia.

To further investigate the hypothesis that hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in patients with depression may be mediated by hypersecretion of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), the authors measured CRF-like immunoreactivity in CSF samples from 138 neurological control, 54 depressed, and 27 nondepressed (23 schizophrenic and four manic) subjects. The CSF CRF concentration was markedly higher (almost twofold) in depressed patients than in control subjects and nondepressed psychiatric patients. The concentration of CSF CRF was slightly but significantly higher in schizophrenic patients than in control subjects. These findings provide further support for the hypothesis that CRF hypersecretion occurs in major depression.