Abstract
BackgroundWomen employed outside the home in urban settings must adapt to changing circadian microenvironments. The pattern and extent of vasoactive hormone responses to these changes may depend upon age and ethnic background. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of age and ethnicity on the circadian variation of urinary norepinephrine, epinephrine, and cortisol excretion across work, home and sleep microenvironments.MethodsThe subjects of the study were 95 women (38 European-American, age = 35.4 ± 7.4; 28 African-American, age = 33.4 ± 7.9; 12 Asian-American, age = 36.7 ± 9.3 and 17 Hispanic-American age = 31.6 ± 10.9) employed as secretaries, lab technicians or office supervisors in New York City. Variation in the hormones across the microenvironments was evaluated using repeated measures ANCOVA with age group (18–29.9; 30–39.9; 40–49.9) and ethnicity as fixed factors.ResultsThe results show that for norepinephrine and epinephrine, work excretion rates are substantially higher than sleep rates (p < .001), and for epinephrine home rates were higher than sleep rates (p < .001). Work and sleep cortisol excretion rates were also significantly higher than the rate at home, consistent with cortisol’s circadian rhythm. (p < .002). Women in their twenties had substantially lower norepinephrine excretion rates than women over 30 (p < .04). There were also ethnic differences in norepinephrine (p < .04) and epinephrine (p = .11) output with Asian-American women having the lowest and African-American women having the highest rates. This variation is likely related to the ethnic variation in weight. There was no significant variation in cortisol excretion with age or ethnicity.ConclusionThe circadian rates of norepinephrine excretion differ by age and that of both catecholamines differ by ethnicity among women working outside the home. It is speculated that the age variation in norepinephrine may contribute to the development of vasomotor symptoms.
Highlights
Women employed outside the home in urban settings must adapt to changing circadian microenvironments
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of age and ethnicity on the allostatic responses of urinary epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol excretion across three changing daily microenvironments in women from four ethnic groups African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American and European-American, all of whom were employed outside the home in similar occupations at a single workplace
The results show that the patterns of urinary catecholamine and cortisol excretion across the daily microenvironments are similar by age group and ethnicity, indicating that the allostatic, physiological response to the stressors associated with microenvironmental changes during the day is similar by age and ethnicity
Summary
Women employed outside the home in urban settings must adapt to changing circadian microenvironments. As women in Western industrialized society age, the qualitative nature of the social and physical environments to which they must adapt changes [1]. As people move through different microenvironments over a day, the levels of theses hormones will change to meet the social and physical demands. Over time, repeated over- and/or undersecretion of these hormones in response to constantly changing daily conditions can lead to allostatic load (a breakdown of regulated bodily functions) contributing to the development of chronic degenerative diseases [1]. Understanding the circadian variation of these hormones in people of different ages and ethnicity can provide insight into how degenerative conditions such as hypertension, CVD, or diabetes develop, and why they may develop differently in diverse groups [4]
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