Abstract
Arterial and venous plasma catecholamines were measured in 13 pre-eclamptic and 13 normotensive pregnant women. in the pre-eclamptic group, arterial concentrations were higher for adrenalin (p<0.001), noradrenalin (p<0.05) and dopamine (p<0.01) than in the normotensive group, whereas in venous plasma only adrenalin (p<0.01) and dopamine levels were higher (p<0.05). Arterial adrenalin concentrations in the pre-eclamptic group were, on average, three times as high as normotensive arterial adrenalin. the arterial-venous (a-v) differences were higher for adrenalin (p<0.001) and dopamine (p<0.05) in the preeclamptic than in the normotensive group. in the preeclamptic group, arterial adrenalin was correlated with mean arterial blood pressure (r=0.89, p<0.001) and with increased heart rate (r=0.78, p<0.01). According to these results, both sympathetic nervous and sympathetic adrenal activities are increased in patients with pre-eclampsia.
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