Arginine vasopressin potentiates adrenocorticotropin release induced by ovine corticotropin-releasing factor.

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) stimulates ACTH release in man and acts synergistically with synthetic ovine corticotropin-releasing factor (oCRF) in vitro. This study was designed to examine in man the combined effects of synthetic AVP (10 U intramuscularly) and oCRF (1 micrograms/kg intravenously) on ACTH release. Five normal male volunteers participated in five separate experiments: (a) AVP alone; (b) oCRF alone; (c) AVP followed by oCRF 15 min later; (d) simultaneous AVP and oCRF; and (e) insulin-induced hypoglycemia. Plasma immunoreactive ACTH (IR-ACTH) and IR-cortisol were measured for 4 h after injection of each hormone; basal levels for all subjects were less than or equal to 9 +/- 1.2 pg/ml and 4.9 +/- 0.4 micrograms/dl (mean +/- SE), respectively. AVP and oCRF, when given individually, caused rapid rises in IR-ACTH to similar peak levels of 25 +/- 6.6 and 33 +/- 4.6 pg/ml, respectively. AVP given 15 min before oCRF caused a 2.6-fold potentiation of the oCRF response, with a peak IR-ACTH of 85 +/- 4.6 pg/ml. AVP given at the same time as oCRF produced a fourfold potentiation of the peak IR-ACTH response to 132 +/- 11 pg/ml. These ACTH responses were far greater than those previously observed after 30-fold greater doses of oCRF alone. By way of comparison, insulin-induced hypoglycemia caused a peak IR-ACTH of 169 +/- 20 pg/ml. IR-ACTH returned to base line at 60-90 min after AVP alone, whereas the prolonged effect of oCRF was apparent whether it was given alone or in combination with AVP. The mean peak IR-cortisol responses to AVP, oCRF, and AVP given 15 min before oCRF were similar (16.5 +/- 0.9, 16.4 +/- 2.3, and 18.5 +/- 0.8 micrograms/dl, respectively), but the peak IR-cortisol responses to AVP and oCRF given simultaneously and to insulin-induced hypoglycemia were 1.5 and 1.7 times greater, respectively. IR-cortisol returned to base line within 2-3 h after AVP alone, but remained elevated for at least 4 h after oCRF alone or in combination with AVP. These results indicate that AVP acts synergistically with oCRF to release ACTH in man and suggest that AVP may play a physiologic role in modulating the ACTH response mediated by corticotropin-releasing factor.