ArticleThe Journal of physiology2012
Sympathetic activation during early pregnancy in humans.
Article in The Journal of physiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
76 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Active plasma renin concentration throughout healthy and complicated pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2024Pooled it
- Muscle sympathetic nerve activity during pregnancy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Physiological reports · 2023Pooled it
- Cardiac output and peripheral vascular resistance during normotensive and hypertensive pregnancy - a systematic review and meta-analysis.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2022Pooled it
- Autonomic Dysfunction in Preeclampsia: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in neurology · 2019Pooled it
- A systematic review and quantitative assessment of sleep-disordered breathing during pregnancy and perinatal outcomes.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2014Pooled it
- Role of the ovarian cycle on neural cardiovascular control in sleep-deprived women.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2015Trial
- Impact of Gestational Weight Gain and Maternal Weight on Sympathetic Adaptations.Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) · 2026Article
- Low-frequency electroacupuncture attenuates insulin resistance in a rat model of diet-induced maternal obesity.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Electric Field-Induced Release and Measurement Liquid Biopsy of Urinary Transcriptomics and Key Proteins from Normal and High-risk Pregnant Women.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2026Article
- Placental exosomal miR-372-3p drives preeclampsia progression by inducing mitochondrial damage in RVLM neurons.Cellular & molecular biology letters · 2026Article
- Longitudinal changes in cardiovascular and sympathetic neural responses to static handgrip exercise throughout pregnancy.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2025Article
- Don't go vaping my heart: e-cigarette exposure during pregnancy promotes peripartum ventricular arrhythmias and sympathetic dominance.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2025Article
- Evaluation of age effect on circulating catecholamines' network in pregnant mares.Veterinary research communications · 2025Article
- Pregnancy Rhinitis: Pathophysiological Mechanisms, Diagnostic Challenges, and Management Strategies-A Narrative Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Associations of physical activity and sedentary time with aortic stiffness and autonomic function in early pregnancy.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2025Article
- Electrocardiographic Changes in Pregnant Patients With Congenital Heart DiseaseAnnals of noninvasive electrocardiology : the official journal of the International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology, Inc · 2025Article
- Management of cardiopulmonary bypass in pregnancy: challenges and progress in maternal-fetal protection.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Review
- Analysis of Circulating Catestatin in Early Pregnancy: A Preliminary Investigation.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Vasopressin and cardiovascular autonomic adjustment in chronic hypertensive pregnancy.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2024Article
- Blood pressure responses to handgrip exercise but not apnea or mental stress are enhanced in women with a recent history of preeclampsia.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2024Article
16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Sympathetic activity has been reported to increase in normotensive pregnant women, and to be even greater in women with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia at term. Whether sympathetic overactivity develops early during pregnancy, remaining high throughout gestation, or whether it only occurs at term providing the substrate for hypertensive disorders is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that sympathetic activation occurs early during pregnancy in humans. Eleven healthy women (29 ± 3 (SD) years) without prior hypertensive pregnancies were tested during the mid-luteal phase (PRE) and early pregnancy (EARLY; 6.2 ± 1.2 weeks of gestation). Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and haemodynamics were measured supine, at 30 deg and 60 deg upright tilt for 5 min each. Blood samples were drawn for catecholamines, direct renin, and aldosterone. MSNA was significantly greater during EARLY than PRE (supine: 25 ± 8 vs. 14 ± 8 bursts min(-1), 60 deg tilt: 49 ± 14 vs. 40 ± 10 bursts min(-1); main effect, P < 0.05). Resting diastolic pressure trended lower (P = 0.09), heart rate was similar, total peripheral resistance decreased (2172 ± 364 vs. 2543 ± 352 dyne s cm(-5); P < 0.05), sympathetic vascular transduction was blunted (0.10 ± 0.05 vs. 0.36 ± 0.47 units a.u.(-1) min(-1); P < 0.01), and both renin (supine: 27.9 ± 6.2 vs. 14.2 ± 8.7 pg ml(-1), P < 0.01) and aldosterone (supine: 16.7 ± 14.1 vs. 7.7 ± 6.8 ng ml(-1), P = 0.05) were higher during EARLY than PRE. These results suggest that sympathetic activation is a common characteristic of early pregnancy in humans despite reduced diastolic pressure and total peripheral resistance. These observations challenge conventional thinking about blood pressure regulation during pregnancy, showing marked sympathetic activation occurring within the first few weeks of conception, and may provide the substrate for pregnancy induced cardiovascular complications.
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