3).The suicide attempt methods were classified as nonviolent (drug overdose) or violent (cutting beyond a superficial scratch, jumping from a height, shooting, hanging).19 Neuroendocrine investigations On

day 1, a clonidine (CLO) test was carried out at 9 am, after an overnight fast. A GH assay was performed at -30, -15, 0, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 minutes. The change in GH after CLO (5 µg/kg orally) was expressed as the maximum increment above the baseline level (mean of -30, -15, 0 minutes) (AGH). Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Subjects who had baseline GH levels >2 ng/mL were excluded. We defined a blunted AGH as a level ≤5 ng/mL.“ A d-FEN test (45 mg orally) was carried out at 9 AM, on day 5, after an overnight fast. An assay of PRL was performed at -30, -15, 0, 60, 120, 180, 240, and 300 minutes. The change in PRL after d-FEN was expressed as the maximum Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical increment above the level at t0 (ΔPRL), since,

in the morning, PRL concentrations decrease (due to the normal circadian rhythm). We excluded from the study all patients with a baseline PRL greater than 20 ng/mL. We defined a blunted ΔPRL as a level ≤0 ng/mL.20 Patients Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical were then classified into 4 groups (Table I): group 1 (n=6; 11%) was defined by blunted ΔPRLd-FEN alone; group 2 (n=17; 32%) was defined by blunted ΔGHCLO alone; group 3 (n=9; 18%) had a combination of blunted ΔPRLd-FEN and ΔGHCLO; group 4 (n=21; 39%) had no abnormality in the d-FEN and CLO tests. Table I. Clinical characteristics of the 4 groups defined by their responses to d-fenfluramine and clonidine tests (mean ± SEM). BI.ΔPRLFEN, indicates Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical blunted peak concentration minus basal DNA Synthesis signaling inhibitor Prolactin concentration (d-fenfluramine [d-FEN] test); … Assays Blood samples were immediately centrifuged at 1500 g and 4°C; plasma samples were then stored at -20°C until assay. Hormonal concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay techniques (GH; sensitivity: 0.2 ng/mL; intra-assay and inter assay coefficients

of variation: 3.7% and 4.5% [Pharmacia hGH RIA 1 00, Uppsala, Sweden]), or imrnunometric techniques Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical based on enhanced luminescence (PRL; sensitivity: 1.3 ng/mL; intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation: 5.5% and 6.0% [Amerlite Prolactin Assay, Amersh am SA, UK]). Data analysis Between-group differences were tested for significance by analysis of variance (Kruskal-Wallis H test), and, where the overall effect was significant, by means of the Mann-Whitney two-tailed test (U test), using Bonferroni’s correction. Correlations between quantitative variables were estimated tuclazepam using the Spearman rank coefficient (p). Categorical data were analyzed by either the χ2 test or Fisher’s exact test. The level of statistical significance was set at P=0.05. The form of multivariate analysis chosen was a factorial correspondence analysis (FCA).21-23 This analysis is based on categorical data recorded in a contingency table, ie, clinical variables (column) in each group defined by neuroendocrine tests (row).