Cardiovascular actions of vasopressin at the ventrolateral medulla

Vasopressin acts at a number of sites in the central nervous system to alter arterial pressure. This study investigated the hypothesis that vasopressin acts at the rostral ventrolateral medulla to increase arterial pressure. The rostral pressor area of the medulla oblongata was exposed in urethane-anesthetized rats prepared for topical application of vasopressin. A 3-minute application of vasopressin (range 10(-8) to 10(-3) M) produced dose-dependent increases in arterial pressure that averaged between 2 +/- 1 and 65 +/- 11 mm Hg (p less than 0.01). Tachycardia was not a consistent response at any concentration of vasopressin. Intravenous administration of a V1 vasopressin antagonist did not modify the pressor response produced by topical application of vasopressin (10(-4) M). Application of the V1 antagonist to the rostral pressor area, however, prevented the production of a pressor effect to subsequent topical application of vasopressin (10(-4) M). These experiments suggest that vasopressin stimulates the activity of vasomotor neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla by a mechanism that involves a neuronal V1 receptor.