[Relationship between social factors and urinary catecholamine concentrations in pregnant women]

Catecholamine concentrations were measured in urine obtained from pregnant women to estimate the stress resulting from their lifestyles. Adrenaline and noradrenaline were analysed by high performance liquor chromatography (HPLC), creatinine was measured by Jaffe's method, and the catecholamine-creatinine ratio in urine was calculated. Adrenaline concentrations in 24-hour urine were higher in working women (n = 35) than non-working women (n = 20) (p less than 0.001) and the admission group (n = 20) (p less than 0.05), but noradrenaline concentrations showed no significant difference among three groups. Catecholamine concentrations were measured in 89 pregnant women three times in 24 hours. Marked circadian variations were observed with adrenaline and noradrenaline. Both concentrations were lowest in early morning, and increased after work (or evening) (p less than 2.0 X 10(-8)). Adrenaline concentrations were decreased on retiring to bed (p not equal to 1.0 X 10(-5)), while noradrenaline concentrations remained high until retiring to bed. There seems to be a relationship between catecholamine output and working or the familial factor. In working women (n = 53), noradrenaline concentrations were higher than in non-working women (n = 36) in early morning (p less than 0.05) and on retiring to bed (p less than 0.05). On the other hand, in women living with parents (n = 56), adrenaline concentrations were higher than those in women living without parents (n = 33) in early morning (p less than 0.05) and on retiring to bed (p less than 0.05). From these results, it may be concluded that working women or women living with parents are under much stress in their lives.