Central catecholamine depletion, vasopressin, and blood pressure in the DOCA/NaCl rat

To determine whether impaired arginine vasopressin (AVP) release occurs when DOCA-NaCl hypertension is prevented following chemical sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), male Sprague-Dawley rats treated with intraventricular injections of 6-OHDA (250 micrograms X 2) or Merlis solution received deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) implants (100 mg/kg) and drank 0.5% saline. Systolic blood pressure in the 6-OHDA-treated DOCA/NaCl group (139 +/- 4 mmHg) was lower (P less than 0.001) than in the Merlis-DOCA/NaCl group (183 +/- 7 mmHg). 6-OHDA treatment produced widespread catecholamine depletion throughout the central nervous system, including the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei, the cells of which are known to produce AVP, but hypothalamic, pituitary, and plasma AVP levels were similar in both experimental groups, the latter values averaging 1.5-2 times those of controls. Both groups of rats suppressed AVP secretion appropriately when water loaded. Such suppression, however, had no effect on blood pressure in the hypertensive animals and, furthermore, administration of the AVP antagonist d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)AVP produced small decrements in mean blood pressure of both groups that were not significantly different from responses seen in control normotensive rats. These data demonstrate that 6-OHDA does not prevent DOCA-NaCl hypertension by decreasing AVP levels and suggest that AVP is not necessary for the maintenance of hypertension in this model.