Endothelium-dependent relaxation of mesenteric resistance arteries of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats was studied. Acetylcholine-induced relaxation of SHR vessels precontracted with 10 microM norepinephrine was endothelium dependent and attenuated compared with WKY vessels. The impaired response of SHR vessels was normalized by inhibition of cyclo...

Our previous studies in cortical collecting ducts isolated from rat kidneys have shown that vasopressin increases both sodium absorption and potassium secretion, while bradykinin inhibits sodium absorption without affecting potassium transport. To determine which anions are affected by these agents, we perfused cortical collecting ducts from rats treated with deoxycorticosterone and measured ne...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Arginine vasopressin V(1) receptors have been suggested to be involved in the pathophysiology of acute brain injury. Therefore, we aimed to determine the role of arginine vasopressin V(1) receptors after experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). METHODS Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to SAH by endovascular puncture received either vehicle or a V(1) receptor antagonist ...

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) and angiotensin II (ANG II) reduce the glomerular filtration rate and ultrafiltration coefficient. Vasodilatory prostaglandins (PG) antagonize these effects. AVP and ANG II also cause mesangial cell contraction. Therefore, possible PG stimulation by these peptides and two vasopressin analogues was studied in cultured rat glomerular mesangial cells. The effect of alter...

BACKGROUND Vasopressin is an essential peptide hormone regulating cardiovascular homeostasis and an adjunctive vasopressor therapy for septic shock. METHODS We tested for association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in vasopressin pathway genes and altered outcome in derivation (n = 589) and replication (n = 616) cohorts of patients with septic shock. The primary outcome was 28-...

The synthetic analogue of vasopressin, 1-deamino-8-D-arginine-vasopressin (dDAVP), possesses a protracted antidiuretic activity while having practically no pressoric activity as compared to arginine-vasopressin (AVP) or lysine-vasopressin (LVP). The effects of LVP and dDAVP were studied on the frog skin (Rana temporaria) sodium transport as reflected by the short-circuit current (SCC) level, on...

Desmopressin is a synthetic analog of the peptide hormone vasopressin in which the N-terminal alpha-amino group has been removed and L-arginine in position 8 has been replaced by D-arginine. Using 1H-NMR spectroscopy, we show that desmopressin binds to neurophysin-II, whereas deamino-vasopressin does not bind. Thus, the change in configuration at Arg8 causes a significant difference in the bind...