Abstract
Simultaneous determinations of amniotic fluid levels of the catecholamines dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE), and epinephrine (E), and the intraneuronal metabolites of DA, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and NE, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol (DOPEG), were made, by radioenzymatic assay, in pregnancies resulting in growth-retarded (n = 14) normal (n = 63) infants. Significant elevations in the mean concentrations of (p < 0.000005), E (p > 0.0005), and DOPEG(p < 0.000001) as well as a significant decrease in the mean concentration of DOPAC (p < 0.000001) were found in pregnancies resulting in growth-retarded infants as compared to pregnancies resulting in normal infants. Amniotic fluid DOPES levels were found to be the most discriminative. As amniotic fluid catecholamines are predominantly of fetal origin, these findings suggest that an increase in adrenergic activity and a decrease in dopaminergic activity occur in intrauterine growth retardation as a response to chronic stress. (Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 141:608, 1981.)
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