The hyper-responsiveness of plasma cortisol to vasopressin has been reported in patients with ACTH-independent bilateral macronodular adrenocortical hyperplasia (AIMAH) and in certain cases of Cushing's adenomas with overexpression of V1a receptors in the adrenal gland. We previously reported a high prevalence of the adrenal hyper-responsiveness of plasma cortisol to vasopressin (vasopressin re...

These studies were undertaken to examine whether an antagonism between vasopressin and prostaglandin occurs in vivo in the mammalian kidney. All experiments were performed in steroid-replaced hypophysectonized dogs undergoing a water diuresis. In the first group of studied the effect of two consecutive intravenous doses (100 mU) of vasopressin was examined. The second dose of vasopressin was pr...

Indices of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism were investigated in male New Zealand genetically hypertensive and normotensive rats. Cross-breeding of male rats of these strains with female Brattleboro diabetes insipidus rats also provided the opportunity to examine the metabolic impact of vasopressin and its deficiency in hypertensive and normotensive rats. Hypertensive and normotensive rats, wi...

The hypothalamic supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei consist of oxytocin and arginine vasopressin synthesizing neurons that send projections to the neurohypophysis. A growing body of evidence in adult animals and young animals at near term confirmed the structure and function in the vasopressinergic and oxytocinergic network. However, whether those distinctive neural networks are formed befor...

In vascular smooth muscle cells arginine vasopressin acting through the V, receptor increases intracellular Ca, leading to vasoconstriction. Recent studies have also shown that vasopressin activates mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase), which may contribute to vasopressin-induced hypertrophy of vascular smooth muscle cells. We examined the ability of an orally active, nonpeptide select...

The anterior olfactory nucleus (AON), a component of the main olfactory system, is a cortical region that processes olfactory information and acts as a relay between the main olfactory bulbs and higher brain regions such as the piriform cortex. Utilizing a transgenic rat in which an enhanced green fluorescent protein reporter gene is expressed in vasopressin neurones (eGFP-vasopressin), we have...

In vascular smooth muscle cells arginine vasopressin acting through the V1 receptor increases intracellular Ca2+, leading to vasoconstriction. Recent studies have also shown that vasopressin activates mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase), which may contribute to vasopressin-induced hypertrophy of vascular smooth muscle cells. We examined the ability of an orally active, nonpeptide sele...

Introduction Copeptin is increasingly used in epidemiological studies as a substitute for vasopressin. The effect of renal function per se on copeptin and vasopressin concentrations as well as their ratio have, however, not been well described. Methods Copeptin and vasopressin levels were measured in 127 patients with various stages of chronic kidney disease, including 42 hemodialysis patient...

One of the rationales for the use of vasopressin in septic shock has been its potential cardioprotective mechanisms. Lower heart rates, higher arterial pressures, and fewer norepinephrine doses during vasopressin therapy were hypothesized to protect the heart from myocardial ischemia. In a prospective sub-study of the VASST (Vasopressin in Septic Shock Trial) project, Mehta and colleagues speci...

Crude plasma membrane fractions were prepared from female Wistar rat anterior pituitaries. These fractions contained a single population of specific 3H-labeled [8-lysine]vasopressin [( 3H]vasopressin) binding sites with a dissociation of constant (Kd) of 8 +/- 2 X 10(-9) M and maximal binding capacity of 244 +/- 45 fmol/mg of protein. The Kd values for a series of vasopressin structural analogu...