Depression, natural killer cell activity, and cortisol secretion

Natural killer (NK) cell activity was evaluated in 34 ambulatory patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and 21 healthy controls. No mean differences between the groups were found. However, female depressives (n = 19) exhibited higher NK activity than female controls (n = 14). The relationship between cortisol secretion and NK activity was examined using an integrated cortisol value derived from multiple blood samples taken between 1:00 and 4:00 PM. This comprehensive assessment of cortisol secretion circumvents spurious "single stick" cortisol values and provides a more accurate determination of hypercortisolemia than the dexamethasone suppression test. NK activity in depressives with cortisol hypersecretion (greater than 11 micrograms/dl) (n = 7) was no different than NK activity in depressives and controls with normal cortisol secretion. Furthermore, there was no correlation between cortisol secretion and NK activity in any of the groups. These results indicate that decreased NK activity is not a consistent finding in MDD and cannot be predicted by the presence of hypercortisolemia in these patients.