Elimination of vasopressin by the normal and the damaged liver. Experiments on unanaesthetized normal and thiocetamide treated rats with a note on the influence of ethanol.

Arginine vasopressin was infused into the V. portae and into the V. cava of unanesthetized rats in water diuresis. The differential antidiuretic response of the same animal to these infusions was used to calculate extraction fraction of ADH by the liver. In the normal rat no extraction was detected. The liver of rats hydrated with 5% ethanol extracted 10% and that of rats treated with thioacetamide extracted 60% of the ADH infused into the portal vein. It is postulated that disturbances of liver cell function by narcotics and substances causing liver damage may liberate ADH-destroying ferments into the blood.