Urinary and metabolic clearances of arginine vasopressin in normal subjects

Synthetic arginine vasopressin (AVP) was infused into 11 hydrated normal subjects at five different infusion rates ranging from 10 to 350 microU X kg-1 X min-1. Each infusion rate was continued for 1 h, and urinary determinations were made on the 30- to 60-min specimens during which time there was no further rise in plasma AVP. Urinary AVP concentrations (microU/ml) and excretion rates (microU/min) increased linearly with increasing infusion rates, and the concentration of AVP in urine increased 120 times more rapid than plasma. Urinary and metabolic clearances of AVP also increased linearly with the maximum urinary clearance being 60.6% of the creatinine clearance. The total metabolic clearance of AVP (including urinary clearance) was 17.8 times that of the urinary clearance of AVP alone. These data clarify the relationships between plasma and urinary AVP in normal hydrated subjects during AVP infusion under steady-state conditions and emphasize the potential advantage of measuring urinary AVP as a monitor of endogenous AVP secretion.