Abstract
Urinary excretion of norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (E), normetanephrine (NMN), metanephrine (MN) and vanillyl mandelic acid (VMA) were measured in 10 hypertensive and 10 normotensive subjects at walking and in sleep. No difference in urinary excretion of each of NE, E, NMN, MN and VMA was observed in sleep between the hypertensive and normotensive subjects. Urinary excretions of NE, E, NMN, MN and VMA at walking were 3 to 6 times higher than those in sleep in both groups. The rate of increase in catecholamine excretion at walking was higher in the hypertensive subjects. At walking, urinary excretion of VMA in the hypertensive group was significantly higher. The ratio of VMA to total catecholamine was lower at walking.
Elevated urinary catecholamine excretion in the hypertensive suggests that the substance plays a role as a causative factor of hypertension.
