Evidence against a role of vasopressin in the maintenance of high blood pressure in mineralocorticoid and renovascular hypertension.

To determine the role of vasopressin in the maintenance of high blood pressure, the antihypertensive effect of the antagonists of the vasopressor effect of vasopressin, [1-deaminopenicillamine, 4-valine, 8-D-arginine] vasopressin (dPVDAVP), and [1-(beta-mercapto-beta, beta-cyclopentamethylenepropionic acid), 4-valine, 8-D-arginine] vasopressin (cyclo dVDAVP), was studied in unanesthetized, nonsurgically stressed rats with adrenal regeneration hypertension, malignant DOCA-salt hypertension, and malignant two-kidney, one clip Goldblatt hypertension. The doses of vasopressin antagonist used blocked the blood pressure (BP) response to vasopressin almost completely, with no changes in the pressor response to norepinephrine and angiotensin II. Administration of the vasopressin antagonists did not induce significant changes in the mean BP in any of the three experimental groups studied. It is suggested that in unanesthetized, nonsurgically stressed rats with adrenal regeneration hypertension, malignant DOCA-salt hypertension, and malignant two-kidney, one clip Goldblatt hypertension, vasopressin does not have a role in the maintenance of high BP.