Thirst induced by increasing brain sodium concentration is mediated by brain angiotensin

Thirst, the longing or compelling desire to drink, arises physiologically by two main mechanisms-extracellular and cellular dehydration. The hormone angiotensin II has been implicated in the former but not in the latter brain mechanism. To test this apparent difference, experiments in 5 mammalian species examined the effect of intracerebroventricular infusion of losartan, an angiotensin II type I receptor antagonist, on the third induced by intracerebroventricular infusion of an artificial cerebrospinal fluid made hypertonic by the inclusion of 500 mM NaCl. The losartan infusion reduced the water intake due to increased brain sodium concentration in all 5 species, cattle, sheep, rabbits, rats and mice. Thus, the thirst evoked by cellular dehydration, as well as the thirst evoked by extracellular dehydration, may be mediated by angiotensin II.