Relationship of catecholamine excretion to body size, obesity, and nutrient intake in middle-aged and elderly men

Catecholamine release from sympathetic nerves and the adrenal medulla is influenced by diet under controlled research conditions. To test whether diet affects catecholamine excretion in free-living men, the urinary content of dopamine (DA), epinephrine (Epi), or norepinephrine (NE) was measured in 24-h collections provided by 572 participants of the Normative Aging Study of the Veterans Administration. Average daily intakes of energy and macronutrients were assessed by means of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire and sodium intake by quantitation of sodium excretion. Catecholamine excretion was also examined in relation to anthropometric variables. Because DA and Epi excretion were inversely related to age, all subsequent analyses included adjustments for age. Although DA and NE were positively related to measures of body size and fatness, Epi was negatively related to body fatness. Excretion rates of all three catecholamines were directly related to total energy intake and inversely related to energy-adjusted CHO consumption.