Vasopressin response to 2-deoxy-D-glucose in the rat

The effect of 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) upon plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP), measured by a specific and sensitive RIA, has been studied in unanesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats. Injection of the drug ip at a dose of 100 mg/kg BW caused a 10-fold rise in plasma AVP to 23.4 +/- 4.9 pg/ml (mean +/- SD). This effect was associated with a rise in plasmas osmolality to 301.8 +/- 3.9 mosmol/kg, but this change was accounted for totally by a rise in plasma glucose to 17.3 +/- 3.0 mM and in plasma urea to 3.4 +/- 0.4 mM. The only effective solute, plasma sodium, fell to 135.0 +/- 0.8 mM. Idiogenic osmoles did not change. Blood volume was reduced by about 5%, while PRA and mean arterial pressure did not change. Thus, the rise in plasma AVP caused by 2DG was not mediated by osmotic or hemodynamic stimuli. Treatment with propranolol (2.5 mg/kg BW) 15 min before 2DG completely abolished the AVP response. These results indicate that 2DG stimulates AVP release by a primary mechanism different from that which mediates the effect of insulin-induced hypoglycemia on AVP.