Neurohypophyseal secretion in hypovolemic rats: inverse relation to sodium appetite

Subcutaneous injection of polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution in rats produces exponential increases in secretion of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OT) in proportion to the induced plasma volume deficits. Previously, we reported that acute water loads eliminated the neurohypophyseal hormone responses to hypovolemia, whereas hypertonic NaCl potentiated them. The present experiments indicated that AVP and OT secretion after PEG treatment were blunted by prior maintenance of rats on a sodium-deficient diet for 2 days. In contrast, plasma AVP and OT levels after PEG treatment were enhanced by prior adrenalectomy or ligation of the inferior vena cava or by concurrent administration of phentolamine in association with arterial hypotension. AVP and OT responses to hypovolemia were similarly potentiated in rats made uremic by bilateral nephrectomy or by puncturing their bladders. These results parallel previous findings that osmotic dilution and sodium deprivation each enhance the sodium appetite induced by PEG treatment in rats, whereas hyperosmolality, hypotension, and uremia each abolish it. Consequently, they support our previous hypothesis that sodium appetite is inversely related to the activity of hypothalamic oxytocinergic neurons.