Abstract
To investigate the influence of atmospheric pressure variation on autonomic nerves in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we measured catecholamines (adrenaline (AD), noradrenaline (NAD), dopamine (DP), and vanillyl mandelic acid (VMA)) in 24-hour urine(1:00 am-1:00 am). One hundred and five urine samples were collected from 9 RA patients (2 males and 7 females, with a mean age of 67.67±9.87 years at the time of the study). When the atmospheric pressure was classified into low, intermediate, and high pressure (990-1,000, 1,001-1,010, and 1,011-1,020 hPa, respectively), there were 19 samples in low, 52 samples in intermediate, and 34 samples in high atmospheric pressure, and the urinary AD, NAD, and VMA levels were greater at a high than at a low atmospheric pressure, and significant differences were noted in the AD level between those at low and high atmospheric pressures (6.55±5.66 and 10.67±5.88 μg/l, respectively), and the NAD level between those at low and high atmospheric pressures (133.9±83.09 and 198.38±93.67 μg/l, respectively) and between those at intermediate and high atmospheric pressures (151.57±80.88 and 198.38±93.67 μg/l, respectively), suggesting that the sympathetic nerve function was enhanced at a high atmospheric pressure. Thus, parasympathetic nerve function may be dominant at a low atmospheric pressure, while sympathetic nerve function may be dominant at a high atmospheric pressure in RA patients, showing that atmospheric pressure variation affects autonomic nerves.
