Abstract
The role of vasopressin in the regulation of blood pressure during water deprivation was assessed in conscious dogs with two antagonists of the vasoconstrictor activity of vasopressin. In water-replete dogs, vasopressin blockade caused no significant changes in mean arterial pressure, heart rate, plasma renin activity (PRA), or plasma corticosteroid concentration. In the same dogs following 48-h water deprivation, vasopressin blockade increased heart rate from 85 +/- 6 to 134 +/- 15 beats/min (P less than 0.0001), increased cardiac output from 2.0 +/- 0.1 to 3.1 +/- 0.1 1/min (P less than 0.005), and decreased total peripheral resistance from 46.6 +/- 3.1 to 26.9 +/- 3.1 U (P less than 0.001). Plasma renin activity increased from 12.4 +/- 2.2 to 25.9 +/- 3.4 ng ANG I X ml-1 X 3 h-1 (P less than 0.0001) and plasma corticosteroid concentration increased from 3.2 +/- 0.7 to 4.9 +/- 1.2 micrograms/dl (P less than 0.05). Mean arterial pressure did not change significantly. When the same dogs were again deprived of water and pretreated with the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol, the heart rate and PRA responses to the antagonists were attenuated and mean arterial pressure decreased from 103 +/- 2 to 91 +/- 3 mmHg (P less than 0.001). These data demonstrate that vasopressin plays an important role in blood pressure regulation during water deprivation in conscious dogs.
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