LAUSR

263 24 patients (10 men, 14 women; mean [SD] age, 43 [12.36] years) with unipolar depression, who developed the first symptoms of the disease af‐ ter the age of 20. Patients were diagnosed with drug ‐resistant depression according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision. They received at least 2 treatments with dif‐ ferent classes of antidepressants at an optimal dosage, and treatment ineffectiveness lasted for at least 4 weeks. The control group consisted of 26 patients (9 men, 17 women; mean [SD] age, 46.88 [17.73] years). Controls did not have any psychiatric disorders, such as depression. Individ‐ uals with any disease of the central nervous sys‐ tem or the pituitary gland were excluded. In both groups, the serum HGH level was mea‐ sured between 8 AM and 10 AM, using an immu‐ noenzymatic method. Samples were obtained in the fasting state, and participants were only allowed to drink water. Physical examination was performed and medical histories were tak‐ en from all participants. Psychiatric examina‐ tions were also performed to exclude patients with any symptoms of depression from the con‐ trol group. The study was approved by the local ethics committee.