Vasopressin

Vasostrict (argipressin)

Vasopressin (arginine vasopressin, AVP; also called antidiuretic hormone, ADH) is a nine-amino-acid hormone made in the hypothalamus and released from the posterior pituitary. It has two major jobs in the body: through V2 receptors in the kidney it conserves water and concentrates urine, and through V1 receptors on blood vessels it causes vasoconstriction, helping maintain blood pressure. It sits at the center of the body's water-balance and circulatory-stress systems and is the natural template from which the therapeutic analogs desmopressin (V2-selective) and terlipressin (long-acting V1) were engineered. As a medicine, synthetic vasopressin (argipressin, marketed in the US as Vasostrict) is used chiefly for its V1 vasoconstrictor effect. In distributive shock — most commonly septic shock — blood vessels lose tone and pressure falls despite fluids and standard catecholamine drugs like norepinephrine. Vasopressin is added as a second vasopressor to raise blood pressure through a catecholamine-independent pathway, which can reduce the required dose of norepinephrine. It also has a role in advanced cardiac life support algorithms and in managing certain cases of vasodilatory shock after cardiac surgery. Vasopressin is a short-acting, potent intravenous drug used exclusively in monitored acute-care settings by clinicians. Its vasoconstrictor action can compromise blood flow to the heart, gut, skin, and extremities, and it must be infused carefully with continuous hemodynamic monitoring. It is distinct from the outpatient vasopressin analogs: where desmopressin is used chronically for water balance and bleeding, native vasopressin is a critical-care circulatory drug. It is not a research or wellness peptide.