Vasopressin secretion and memory impairment in alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome

The response of arginine vasopressin (AVP) to an intravenous hypertonic saline infusion was investigated in 19 patients with alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome, 17 non-amnesic alcoholics and 21 non-alcoholic controls. Compared with non-alcoholic controls the Korsakoff patients had elevated basal AVP levels and showed erratic fluctuation of AVP secretion, not related to changes in serum sodium levels. The non-amnesic alcoholics had a similar, but less severe derangement. Neuropsychological tests revealed significant correlations between basal AVP levels and memory performance in the non-amnesic alcoholics, raising the possibility of a common lesion--most likely in the diencephalon--for memory impairment and AVP dysregulation in chronic alcoholics.