Hemodynamic effects of neurohypophyseal peptides with antidiuretic activity in dogs

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is known to produce increases in total peripheral resistance (TPR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) and decreases in heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), and plasma renin activity (PRA). Some recent observations with AVP and synthetic analogues have suggested that under certain conditions, AVP can induce cardiovascular and reninsecretory responses in the opposite directions. To characterize the receptors mediating these responses, the effects of AVP, oxytocin, and synthetic neurohypophyseal analogues with specific antidiuretic, vasoconstrictor, or oxytocic activities were studied in conscious dogs. AVP and 2-phenylalanine-8-ornithine-oxytocin (Phe2Orn8OT, a selective vasoconstrictor agonist) produced similar responses when infused at 10 ng X kg-1 X min-1. That is, TPR and MAP increased, and CO, HR, and PRA decreased. Pretreatment with a selective vasoconstrictor antagonist, [1-(beta-mercapto-beta,beta-cyclopentamethylenepropionic acid) 2-(O-methyl)tyrosine]AVP, abbreviated d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)-AVP (10 micrograms/kg), blocked the actions of Phe2Orn8OT. However, in the presence of d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)AVP, AVP actually decreased TPR and increased CO, HR, and PRA. An analogue with selective antidiuretic activity, 4-valine-8-D-AVP (VDAVP, 10 ng X kg-1 X min-1), produced the same effects as the combination of vasopressin plus d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)AVP. Neither the effects of VDAVP nor of AVP plus antagonist were blocked by propranolol (1 mg/kg). These data indicate that vasopressin, by its antidiuretic activity, produces cardiovascular effects that are opposite to many of those produced by its vasoconstrictor action and that these effects are not dependent on mediation by beta-adrenoceptors.