Plasma adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine in pregnancy hypertension

The resting plasma adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine were measured in nine hypertensive women and seven normotensive women in the third trimester of pregnancy on two successive days. The mean plasma adrenaline concentrations on the two days in the hypertensive women (442 and 298 pg/ml) were significantly higher than in the normotensive women (43.9 and 61.6 pg/ml). The mean plasma noradrenaline concentrations in the hypertensive women (232 and 274 pg/ml) were higher than in the normotensive women (48 and 110 pg/ml) and the difference was significant on Day 1 but not Day 2. The mean plasma dopamine concentrations in the hypertensive women (98.6 and 62.1 pg/ml) were higher than in the normotensive women (23.2 and 26.0 pg/ml) and the difference was significant on Day 1 but not Day 2. The plasma adrenaline/noradrenaline ratios were significantly increased in the hypertensive compared with the normotensive women on both days. It is suggested that sympathetic nervous system activity may be increased in some women with hypertension in pregnancy.