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Article: Hippocampal to Pituitary Volume Ratio: A Specific Measure of Reciprocal Neuroendocrine Alterations in Alcohol Dependence(*).(Statistical Data Included)
- Article from:
- Journal of Studies on Alcohol
- Article date:
- September 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN CONSIDERING the endocrine alterations in major depressive disorder, we noted reports of pituitary enlargement and hypercortisolemia (Musselman and Nemeroff, 1996). Animal studies suggest chronic hypercortisolemia may be especially toxic to hippocampal neurons (Uno et al., 1994) and might result in decreased hippocampal volume in humans (Sheline et al., 1996). Since hypercortisolemia is also a feature of chronic heavy drinking (Elias et al., 1982; Groote Veldman and Meinders, 1996; Jenkins, 1981; Proto et al., 1985; Rivier, 1996), we wondered whether a similar combination of pituitary enlargement and hippocampal volume loss could be demonstrated in alcohol dependence ...