Elimination of infused arginine-vasopressin and its long-acting deaminated analogue in rats

Arginine-vasopressin (AVP) and deamino-arginine-vasopressin (dAVP) were infused into rats. When the concentrations of the two peptides were steady, the rate of clearance of AVP from the plasma was six times the rate of clearance of alphaAVF. Only 6% of the infused AVP was excreted unchanged in the urine, whereas approximately 100% of the dAVP was excreted. When the infusions were stopped, AVP disappeared from the plasma much more rapidly than dAVP. The plasma concentrations of the two peptides did not decay as simple exponential functions, suggesting that both AVP and dAVP entered a slowly exchanging compartment or compartments during prolonged infusion. These differences in the metabolic clearance of AVP and dAVP may well explain the prolonged antidiuretic effect of dAVP in rats.