Left atrial receptors and the antidiuretic hormone

1. Stimulation of left atrial receptors by distending balloons located at the junction between the pulmonary veins and the left atrium and in the body of the left atrium resulted in a diuresis in anaesthetized dogs.2. In the same dogs the diuresis was not consistently associated with a reduction in the antidiuretic activity of plasma as compared with that during the initial control period. The antidiuretic activity of dog plasma was assayed in water-loaded rats anaesthetized with ethanol.3. Intravenous injections of vasopressin suppressed a water diuresis in water-loaded dogs anaesthetized with chloralose. The changes in antidiuretic activity of dog plasma which resulted from these injections were reliably detected by the bio-assay in the rat.4. It is concluded that the diuretic response to the stimulation of left atrial receptors is not accompanied by a reduction in the plasma antidiuretic hormone level.