A radioimmunoassay for plasma arginine-vasopressin in man and dog: application to physiological and pathological states.

A radioimmunoassay has been developed for plasma arginine-vasopressin in man and dog. The mean recovery of added arginine-vasopressin (AVP) was 60 +/-6.9 (S.D.)% and the lower threshold of detection 2.0 pmol/1. A close correlation was found between concurrent radioimmunoassay and bioassay values. The mean concentration found in peripheral venous blood in healthy men after overnight fasting was 5.3 pmol/1 (range 4.6-6.2 pmol/1.) In man, significant increases in plasma AVP occurred after dehydration (5-9-9-5 pmol/1) and significant decreases after oral water-loading (5.9-9.5 pmol/1). During i.v. infusion of graded doses of synthetic AVP in normal men, plasma levels were closely correlated with infusion rate. On stopping the infusion, plasma vasopressin fell exponentially with a half-life of between 7 and 8 min. In man, plasma AVP was unaffected by tilting head-up for 2 h, or by a non-hypotensive bleeding of 500 ml in 10 min. In the dog, haemorrhage of 5 ml/kg and over caused proportionate increases in AVP in the circulation. In normal men, plasma vasopressin was significantly correlated with concurrent urinary osmolality. Five patients with oat-cell bronchial carcinoma and hyponatraemia showed a marked increase of plasma vasopressin. Five patients with diabetes insipidus had significantly reduced, but detectable, levels of plasma AVP. The plasma concentration in these patients did not increase after water restriction.