The role of vasopressin in hypertension

There is evidence for an increased secretion of vasopressin in most models of hypertension, e.g., deoxycorticosterone (DOC)-salt hypertension, one- and two-kidney renal hypertension, partial nephrectomy-salt hypertension, the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), the Dahl salt-sensitive rat on a high-salt diet, and human essential hypertension. In most forms of hypertension, there is also an increased pressor responsiveness to vasopressin as well as to other pressor agents. Blockade of vasopressin with either a competitive antagonist or a specific antiserum lowered blood pressure substantially in DOC-salt hypertension, two-kidney, one-clip hypertension, the stroke-prone SHR with well-established hypertension, and the Dahl S rat treated with captopril. In rats with diabetes insipidus, one- and two-kidney renal hypertension, but not DOC-salt hypertension, can be produced. There is evidence that vasopressin can contribute to some models of hypertension as either a pressor or an antidiuretic agent.