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Endocrine · Reference monograph

Endogenous antidiuretic hormone with vasopressor activity

Reference compound — not available from Purity Peptides. Shown for research context.

Overview

Vasopressin, also called arginine vasopressin or antidiuretic hormone, is a cyclic nonapeptide synthesised in hypothalamic neurons and released from the posterior pituitary. Its structure, a six-residue disulfide ring with a three-residue tail, closely resembles oxytocin, differing at only two positions. Vincent du Vigneaud's group characterised and synthesised both hormones in the early 1950s, work that contributed to his 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and marked the first laboratory synthesis of polypeptide hormones.

Vasopressin regulates water balance and vascular tone and is approved as a prescription medicine for vasodilatory shock. Research interest spans renal physiology, cardiovascular control and neuroscience. In critical care research, the observation that circulating vasopressin can be inappropriately low in septic shock led to large randomised trials comparing it with catecholamine vasopressors. In basic science, vasopressin and its receptor subtypes are studied in contexts ranging from collecting-duct water transport to social behaviour, stress-axis regulation and circadian biology. Its closely related analogue desmopressin is used where V2 selectivity is required.

Mechanism studied

  1. Vasopressin
  2. V1a / V2 receptors
  3. Vasoconstriction & antidiuresis
  4. Blood pressure ↑

Vasopressin acts through three GPCR subtypes. V1a receptors on vascular smooth muscle couple to Gq, raising intracellular calcium and causing vasoconstriction; this underlies its pressor effect. V2 receptors in renal collecting ducts couple to Gs, increasing cyclic AMP and driving aquaporin-2 insertion into the apical membrane so that water is reabsorbed. V1b receptors on pituitary corticotrophs potentiate ACTH release in the stress response. Vasopressin also acts within the brain as a neuromodulator. In vasodilatory shock research, its V1a-mediated vasoconstriction is notable because it operates independently of adrenergic receptors, which may be desensitised in that setting.

Research highlights

  • 01Isolated, sequenced and synthesised by du Vigneaud's laboratory in the early 1950s alongside oxytocin.
  • 02Identification of three receptor subtypes clarified its distinct vascular, renal and pituitary actions.
  • 03A large randomised trial in septic shock compared vasopressin with noradrenaline and shaped subsequent research.
  • 04Rodent studies, particularly in voles, linked vasopressin signalling to pair bonding and social behaviour.
  • 05Open questions include which shock phenotypes respond best and how vasopressin interacts with corticosteroid signalling.

Latest published research

39,835 papers on PubMed →

  1. Development of a liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry method for the quantification of Arginine Vasopressin in human plasma

    Grifnée E et al. · Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry · 2027 Feb 15 · PMID 42501777

  2. AVP-GPT2: Prompt-conditioned fine-tuning of a GPT-2 protein language model for antiviral peptide identification

    Maryam et al. · European journal of medicinal chemistry · 2026 Dec 15 · PMID 42800116

  3. Acute colonic pseudo-obstruction with transient failure of oral desmopressin in adipsic arginine vasopressin deficiency

    Li W et al. · JCEM case reports · 2026 Dec · PMID 42948338

  4. Hypothalamic Neurochemical and Microglial Suppression in Long-Standing Human Hibernation-Like Syndrome

    Jiang W et al. · Neuropathology and applied neurobiology · 2026 Dec · PMID 42946552

  5. Tumor-to-tumor metastasis of colorectal adenocarcinoma within a gonadotroph pituitary adenoma

    Murasawa S et al. · JCEM case reports · 2026 Dec · PMID 42923192

  6. Diagnostic challenges of masked arginine vasopressin deficiency in neurosarcoidosis complicated by sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor use

    Nonaka R et al. · JCEM case reports · 2026 Dec · PMID 42891093

  7. \Stopping Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review of Drugs Inhibiting Uterine Contractions

    Kahl T et al. · Journal of endometriosis and uterine disorders · 2026 Dec · PMID 42746335

  8. Signaling mechanisms of vasopressin/oxytocin-type neuropeptide-induced muscle contraction in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

    Liu H et al. · Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Toxicology & pharmacology : CBP · 2026 Dec · PMID 42665172

Live feed from PubMed (NCBI) for “Vasopressin”, updated 2026-10-30. Listing a paper is not an endorsement of its findings.

Registered studies

434 on ClinicalTrials.gov →

From the public ClinicalTrials.gov registry for “Vasopressin”, updated 2026-10-30. Shown for research context only; Purity Peptides products are not for human use.

Key references

  1. [1]Manufacturer's prescribing information — FDA / EMA / ANVISA
  2. [2]Russell et al., 2008 — N Engl J Med (VASST)
  3. [3]WADA — Prohibited List of Substances and Methods

FAQ

  • Both are cyclic nonapeptides from the posterior pituitary that differ at only two amino acid positions. Despite this similarity they act on distinct receptor families, although some cross-reactivity between vasopressin and oxytocin receptors is documented.

  • Researchers observed that circulating vasopressin can be relatively deficient in septic shock and that its vasoconstrictor action does not rely on adrenergic receptors. This prompted trials comparing it with catecholamine vasopressors.

  • Vasopressin is approved as a prescription medicine in the US and EU for vasodilatory shock and has a long history of use in diabetes insipidus. Research-grade material is supplied for laboratory investigation only.

FOR RESEARCH USE ONLY.Not for human or veterinary use. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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