Augmented pressor response to vasopressin in awake dogs after cardiac denervation

Hemodynamic responses to varying intravenous infusion rates of vasopressin were studied in two groups of dogs; one group was cardiac denervated and the other sham operated. Vasopressin given at 200, 1,000, and 5,000 fmol X kg-1 X min-1 produced increases in aortic pressure that were significantly greater in cardiac-denervated dogs than in sham-operated dogs. The augmented pressor response in cardiac-denervated dogs was associated with greater increases in total peripheral resistance in this group; decreases in cardiac output were similar in the two groups of dogs. Vasopressin decreased heart rate significantly in each group, but the magnitude of the decrease was significantly smaller in cardiac-denervated dogs. In contrast to these results, the intravenous infusion of phenylephrine or angiotensin II in other experiments on the same dogs produced comparable increases in aortic pressure in each group. These results are consistent with earlier evidence indicating that vasopressin elicits more effective reflex mechanisms to attenuate the increases in blood pressure caused by its direct vasoconstrictor action than do other vasoconstrictor agents, such as angiotensin II and phenylephrine. Since the infusion of vasopressin produced a greater increase in arterial blood pressure in cardiac-denervated dogs than it did in sham-operated control dogs, it appears that at least part of the unique action of vasopressin may be mediated by the potentiation of a peripheral vasodepressor reflex arising from cardiac receptors.