Effect of vasopressin on renal lithium reabsorption: a micropuncture and microperfusion study

Micropuncture techniques were used to investigate the nephron site(s) responsible for the vasopressin-induced reductions in lithium clearance and fractional lithium excretion (FELi) in anesthetized Brattleboro rats lacking endogenous vasopressin. In rats treated intravenously with the vasopressin analogue 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP; 40 pg/min), FELi was significantly lower than in untreated animals (0.23 +/- 0.01 vs. 0.28 +/- 0.02, P < 0.05). Free-flow micropuncture showed that fractional lithium delivery (FDLi) to late proximal convolutions was identical in the two groups, whereas at the early distal tubule both FDLi (0.28 +/- 0.02 vs. 0.33 +/- 0.01, P < 0.05) and the tubular fluid-to-plasma lithium concentration ratio (1.18 +/- 0.04 vs. 1.36 +/- 0.06, P < 0.05) were lower in the DDAVP-treated group. No differences between the groups with respect to lithium handling beyond the early distal tubule were observed. In rats subjected to in vivo microperfusion of loops of Henle, intravenous infusion of DDAVP (40 pg/min) increased fractional lithium reabsorption in the loop from 0.56 +/- 0.03 to 0.66 +/- 0.04 (P < 0.05) and from 0.39 +/- 0.02 to 0.45 +/- 0.02 (P < 0.05) at perfusion rates of 10 and 15 nl/min, respectively. We conclude that DDAVP stimulates lithium reabsorption in the loop of Henle and suggest that this results from an increased transepithelial potential difference in the thick ascending limb.