What Is Vasopressin (ADH)?
Vasopressin, formally arginine vasopressin (AVP) and commonly called antidiuretic hormone (ADH), is a cyclic nonapeptide hormone and neuropeptide. Early physiological work in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries established that extracts of the posterior pituitary could raise blood pressure and reduce urine output. The antidiuretic principle was subsequently isolated and characterized, and synthetic vasopressin became an important treatment for disorders involving inadequate water conservation. The closely related peptide oxytocin was isolated from the same general line of research. Modern molecular, neuroendocrine, and behavioral studies have expanded the field beyond its classical endocrine functions, showing that vasopressin also acts within the brain to influence stress responsivity, social recognition, territoriality, aggression, pair bonding, and aspects of learning and memory.
Vasopressin has two connected but partly separable biological roles. Peripherally, it is an antidiuretic hormone that promotes water reabsorption in the kidney and, at higher concentrations, a vasopressor that constricts blood vessels and supports arterial pressure. Centrally, it is a neuromodulator released by neuronal circuits in the hypothalamus and other brain regions. The mature human peptide contains nine amino acids and resembles oxytocin in both sequence and three-dimensional structure. The peptides differ at positions 3 and 8: vasopressin contains phenylalanine at position 3 and arginine at position 8, whereas oxytocin contains isoleucine and leucine at those positions. AVP is synthesized mainly in magnocellular and parvocellular neurons of the hypothalamic supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei. Magnocellular axons project to the posterior pituitary, where vasopressin is stored and released into the bloodstream. Other axons release AVP locally within the brain, including projections toward the amygdala, hippocampus, lateral septum, and other limbic and hypothalamic structures. Blood-borne ADH and locally released central AVP should therefore not be treated as interchangeable: peripheral effects are dominated by renal and vascular receptors, whereas social and cognitive effects depend on brain access, receptor distribution, dose, sex, context, and individual biology.
Quick Reference
Member reference tables summarize the compound's research parameters.
Research Indications
Research Protocols
As reported in cited literature and research-community logs (see Research Citations below), not a personal dosing recommendation.
This member section describes parameters reported in the research literature.
Peptide Interactions
This member section summarizes reported compound interactions and evidence limitations.
Reported Research Time Points
This member section summarizes reported research time points.
Safety Notes
Included for harm-reduction awareness only, in the event this compound is encountered outside its labeled research use. Inclusion here does not imply RUO Codes endorses, recommends, or instructs human use.
This member section discusses research safety considerations and uncertainties.
Quality Indicators
Research Citations
- Vasopressin versus norepinephrine infusion in patients with septic shock
Russell, J. A., Walley, K. R., Singer, J., et al., 2008, New England Journal of Medicine - Vasopressin deficiency contributes to the vasodilation of septic shock
Landry, D. W., Levin, H. R., Gallant, E. M., et al., 1997, Circulation - Effect of early vasopressin vs norepinephrine on kidney failure in patients with septic shock: the VANISH randomized clinical trial
Gordon, A. C., Mason, A. J., Thirunavukkarasu, N., et al., 2016, JAMA - Vasopressin modulates human social communication
Thompson, R. R., George, K., Walton, J. C., Orr, S. P., Benson, J., 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - Vasopressin and oxytocin receptor agonists and antagonists as research tools and potential therapeutic agents
Manning, M., Stoev, S., Chini, B., Durroux, T., Mouillac, B., Guillon, G., 2012, Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology