Hormonal Levels in Men With Major Depressive Disorder

Subjects will be 1000 men meeting the following inclusion criteria: 1) male, age 18-65 years; 2) meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder within the past one year, with a HAM-D score >12.

Subjects will be excluded if they exhibit 1) a substance abuse or dependence disorder within the past year; 2) current psychotic symptoms; or 3) a history of bipolar disorder.

Procedure

After informed consent, eligible patients will have blood drawn for serum hormone levels; cortisol, DHEA-S and testosterone or they will provide a salivary sample for measurement of hormone levels.

We will also test hormone level form 1000 healthy males (from blood or saliva) at the same age for comparison.