Comparison of short-term (saliva) and long-term (hair) cortisol levels in out-patients with melancholic and non-melancholic major depression

Background Major depressive episodes (MDEs) show diverse cortisol level alterations. Heterogeneity in symptom profiles, symptom severity and cortisol specimens may explain these heterogeneous results. Less severely ill out-patients with a non-melancholic MDE (NM-MDE) may have a variation in the rhythm of cortisol secretion rather than in its concentration. Method Cortisol measures were taken (a) over a short-term period (12 h) by measuring daily...