A vasopressin-like peptide in the mammalian sympathetic nervous system.

Vasopressin was among the first mammalian hormonal peptides to be identified and to have its structure determined. Its only undisputed physiological role is as a circulating neurohypophyseal antidiuretic hormone. Other notable effects of vasopressin on peripheral tissues include contraction of vascular smooth muscle, leading to elevation of blood pressure, and activation of glycogenolysis in liver. It has long been clear that vascular smooth muscle and hepatocytes are relatively insensitive to the low concentrations of vasopressin normally present in the circulation, and the physiological significance of their responses has therefore been in doubt. We now report that a new bioactive and immunoreactive vasopressin-like peptide (VLP) is widely distributed in the sympathetic nervous system of mammals, both in the principal noradrenergic neurones of ganglia and in nerve fibres innervating peripheral tissues. In addition to other peptides described in the mammalian sympathetic nervous system, VLP must be considered as a possible mediator of the non-adrenergic responses to sympathetic activation. Moreover, many of the effects previously attributed to circulating vasopressin may be neurally evoked.