Cardiovascular depression and stabilization by central vasopressin in rats

The role of endogenous vasopressin in cardiovascular homeostasis was examined using vasopressin-deficient rats (Brattleboro) (n=194) and their parent strain, Long-Evans rats (n=181). Mean arterial pressure (blood pressure) and heart rate were measured every 4 seconds with or without infusion of drug solution for 21 hours, and mean values and their standard deviations (lability) were calculated. Blood pressure in Brattleboro rats (116±1.1 mm Hg, mean±SEM) was significantly higher than that in Long-Evans rats (96±0.7 mm Hg, p<0.001), whereas heart rates (381±3.3 and 375±2.9 beats/min, respectively) were similar. The lability of blood pressure and heart rate in Brattleboro rats (9.2±0.1 mm Hg and 42.3±0.7 beats/min) was also greater than that in Long-Evans rats (6.7±0.1 mm Hg, p<0.001 and 38.4±0.8 beats/min, p<0.01, respectively). In Brattleboro rats, intravenous vasopressin (0.1 ng/kg/min or 0.6 ng/kg/min) did not affect blood pressure, although it did reduce heart rate and decreased lability of blood pressure and heart rate. Intracerebroventricular (central) infusion of vasopressin (2 pg/kg/min) in Brattleboro rats induced initial hypertension and tachycardia followed by long-lasting hypotension and bradycardia, whereas in Long-Evans rats it induced only hypertension and tachycardia. In both strains, central vasopressin dramatically decreased the lability of blood pressure and heart rate. Neither intravenous (0.2 ng/kg/min) nor central desmopressin (2 pg/kg/min or 0.2 ng/kg/min), a V₂ renal receptor agonist, changed any of these parameters in Brattleboro rats, although both diminished urinary volume. Neither intravenous (50 ng/kg/min) nor central (3.3 pg/kg/min) d(CH₂)₅-Tyr(Me)-arginine vasopressin, a vasopressin V₁ receptor antagonist, modulated any of these parameters in Long-Evans rats. These results suggest that endogenous as well as exogenous vasopressin acts centrally as a cardiovascular inhibitor and stabilizer through a receptor mechanism other than V₁ or V₂ receptor mechanisms.