Massive plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP) removal during hemofiltration stimulates AVP secretion in humans

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) was measured in the plasma and its ultrafiltrate in 11 patients with end-stage renal failure treated by hemofiltration. Nineteen liters of ultrafiltrate were produced in 170 min and continuously replaced by an isoosmotic substitution fluid to maintain constant body weight. Plasma and ultrafiltrate AVP concentrations were not significantly different and did not change with time. The AVP clearance rate due to hemofiltration was 114 +/- 2.6 (+/- SE) ml/min, which represented more than two thirds of the predicted MCR in these patients. Corrected plasma osmolality, body weight, mean blood pressure, hematocrit, and PRA did not change during the hemofiltration session. These results indicate that there is a compensatory increase in AVP production which maintains plasma AVP unchanged in response to the increased MCR resulting from hemofiltration. The responsible stimulus could be a direct effect of the decrease in plasma AVP on the AVP-secreting neurones. Alternatively, ultrafiltration itself, via the hemodynamic changes it produces or the loss of an unrecognized inhibitory substance, may be the stimulus to AVP secretion.