Physiological variability of fluid-regulation hormones in young women

We tested the physiological reliability of plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma concentrations of arginine vasopressin (P[AVP]), aldosterone (P[ALD]), and atrial natriuretic peptide (P[ANP]) in the early follicular phase and midluteal phases over the course of two menstrual cycles (n = 9 women, ages 25 +/- 1 yr). The reliability (Cronbach's alpha >/=0.80) of these hormones within a given phase of the cycle was tested 1) at rest, 2) after 2.5 h of dehydrating exercise, and 3) during a rehydration period. The mean hormone concentrations were similar within both the early follicular and midluteal phase tests; and the mean concentrations of P[ALD] and PRA for the three test conditions were significantly greater during the midluteal compared with the early follicular phase. Although Cronbach's alpha for resting and recovery P[ANP] were high (0.80 and 0.87, respectively), the resting and rehydration values for P[AVP], P[ALD], and PRA were variable between trials for the follicular (alpha from 0.49 to 0.55) and the luteal phase (alpha from 0.25 to 0. 66). Physiological reliability was better after dehydration for P[AVP] and PRA but remained low for P[ALD]. Although resting and recovery P[AVP], P[ALD], and PRA were not consistent within a given menstrual phase, the differences in the concentrations of these hormones between the different menstrual phases far exceeded the variability within the phases, indicating that the low within-phase reliability does not prevent the detection of menstrual phase-related differences in these hormonal variables.