Scott, L V, Medbak, S, Dinan, T G · Biological psychiatry · 1999 · DOI
This study tested whether a synthetic hormone called desmopressin could improve how the pituitary gland responds to stress signals in people with ME/CFS. Researchers gave ME/CFS patients and healthy volunteers different hormone combinations and measured their stress hormone responses. When desmopressin was added to another hormone (CRH), it boosted the pituitary gland's response in both groups, but especially in people with ME/CFS.
This research provides evidence that the blunted stress hormone response observed in many ME/CFS patients may not reflect irreversible pituitary damage, but rather a functional imbalance that can be modulated pharmacologically. The findings suggest a specific neuroendocrine mechanism—altered vasopressin signaling—that could be targeted therapeutically to improve hormonal dysfunction in ME/CFS.
This study does not prove that vasopressin dysfunction causes ME/CFS, only that it may contribute to observed hormonal abnormalities. The acute hormone challenge results do not demonstrate whether DDAVP would be therapeutically effective in treating ME/CFS symptoms in clinical practice. The small sample size and single time-point design limit conclusions about the wider ME/CFS population.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Scott, L V, Medbak, S, & Dinan, T G (1999). Desmopressin augments pituitary-adrenal responsivity to corticotropin-releasing hormone in subjects with chronic fatigue syndrome and in healthy volunteers.. Biological psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0006-3223(98)00232-7
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-scott-1999-desmopressin-augments,
author = {Scott, L V and Medbak, S and Dinan, T G},
title = {Desmopressin augments pituitary-adrenal responsivity to corticotropin-releasing hormone in subjects with chronic fatigue syndrome and in healthy volunteers.},
journal = {Biological psychiatry},
year = {1999},
doi = {10.1016/s0006-3223(98)00232-7},
note = {PubMed: 10356627},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/scott-1999-desmopressin-augments},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/scott-1999-desmopressin-augments
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