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Frontiers in Medicine 2017Decreases in the concentration of sodium in plasma constitute hyponatremia, the commonest electrolyte disorder in clinical medicine. It is now well established that its... (Review)
Review
Decreases in the concentration of sodium in plasma constitute hyponatremia, the commonest electrolyte disorder in clinical medicine. It is now well established that its presence conveys an increased mortality risk even when the decrement is mild. In addition, recent evidence suggests that chronic and apparently asymptomatic hyponatremia is associated with increased morbidity including neurocognitive deficits and bone fractures. Furthermore, hyponatremia is associated with higher health care-related expenses. Consequently, exploring new therapeutic strategies that increase plasma sodium in a safe and effective manner is of paramount importance. In this regard, there are scant data to support the use of traditional management strategies for hyponatremia (fluid restriction, salt tablets, loop diuretics, and normal saline). Furthermore, data from a large hyponatremia registry reveal the limited efficacy of these therapies. More recently vasopressin receptor antagonists provide a promising treatment for hyponatremia by targeting its most common mechanism, namely, increased vasopressin activity. However, uncertainty still lingers as to the optimal indications for the use of vasopressin receptor antagonists in hyponatremia and a few reports have described complications resulting from their misuse. This review summarizes the appropriate and inappropriate uses of vasopressin receptor antagonists in the treatment of hyponatremia.
PubMed: 28879182
DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2017.00141 -
Frontiers in Endocrinology 2017Vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) are distinct molecules; these peptides and their receptors [OT receptor (OTR) and V1a receptor (V1aR)] also are evolved components of... (Review)
Review
Vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) are distinct molecules; these peptides and their receptors [OT receptor (OTR) and V1a receptor (V1aR)] also are evolved components of an integrated and adaptive system, here described as the OT-VP pathway. The more ancient peptide, VP, and the V1aRs support individual survival and play a role in defensive behaviors, including mobilization and aggression. OT and OTRs have been associated with positive social behaviors and may function as a biological metaphor for social attachment or "love." However, complex behavioral functions, including selective sexual behaviors, social bonds, and parenting require combined activities of OT and VP. The behavioral effects of OT and VP vary depending on perceived emotional context and the history of the individual. Paradoxical or contextual actions of OT also may reflect differential interactions with the OTR and V1aR. Adding to the complexity of this pathway is the fact that OT and VP receptors are variable, across species, individuals, and brain region, and these receptors are capable of being epigenetically tuned. This variation may help to explain experience-related individual and sex differences in behaviors that are regulated by these peptides, including the capacity to form social attachments and the emotional consequences of these attachments.
PubMed: 29312146
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2017.00356 -
Annals of Intensive Care Jan 2020Activation of arginine-vasopressin is one of the hormonal responses to face vasodilation-related hypotension. Released from the post-pituitary gland, vasopressin induces... (Review)
Review
Activation of arginine-vasopressin is one of the hormonal responses to face vasodilation-related hypotension. Released from the post-pituitary gland, vasopressin induces vasoconstriction through the activation of V1a receptors located on vascular smooth muscle cells. Due to its non-selective receptor affinity arginine-vasopressin also activates V2 (located on renal tubular cells of collecting ducts) and V1b (located in the anterior pituitary and in the pancreas) receptors, thereby potentially promoting undesired side effects such as anti-diuresis, procoagulant properties due to release of the von Willebrand's factor and platelet activation. Finally, it also cross-activates oxytocin receptors. During septic shock, vasopressin plasma levels were reported to be lower than expected, and a hypersensitivity to its vasopressor effect is reported in such situation. Terlipressin and selepressin are synthetic vasopressin analogues with a higher affinity for the V1 receptor, and, hence, potentially less side effects. In this narrative review, we present the current knowledge of the rationale, benefits and risks of vasopressin use in the setting of septic shock and vasoplegic shock following cardiac surgery. Clearly, vasopressin administration allows reducing norepinephrine requirements, but so far, no improvement of survival was reported and side effects are frequent, particularly ischaemic events. Finally, we will discuss the current indications for vasopressin and its agonists in the setting of septic shock, and the remaining unresolved questions.
PubMed: 31970567
DOI: 10.1186/s13613-020-0628-2 -
Revista Medica Del Instituto Mexicano... Mar 2023Oxytocin and vasopressin share a similar chemical structure but have different functions. Both hormones are produced in different brain areas, are transported through... (Review)
Review
Oxytocin and vasopressin share a similar chemical structure but have different functions. Both hormones are produced in different brain areas, are transported through the hypophyseal portal system, pass to the anterior hypophysis, and released to reach their target organs. These hormones also act as neuromodulators, where its receptors are found in the lateral septum, the middle amygdala, the hippocampus, the hypothalamus, and the brain stem. These brain structures regulate socio-sexual behaviors in vertebrates. Moreover, the oxytocinergic and the vasopressin systems are sexually different. The sexual steroids promote oxytocin release and the oxytocin receptor synthesis, as well as promoting or inhibiting vasopressin release and its receptor genetic transcription. Both neuropeptides are involved in social recognition, male-female pair bonding, aggression, and cognition. Furthermore, the disruption or malfunctioning of the oxytocin and vasopressin systems adds to the causes of some psychiatric disorders like depression, schizophrenia, autism, and borderline personality.
Topics: Animals; Female; Humans; Male; Brain; Oxytocin; Schizophrenia; Vasopressins
PubMed: 37200960
DOI: No ID Found -
The Pan African Medical Journal 2019Disorders of water balance are a disease commonly encountered in our clinical practice. Analysis of vasopressin receptor type II (V2R) is essential to understand the... (Review)
Review
Disorders of water balance are a disease commonly encountered in our clinical practice. Analysis of vasopressin receptor type II (V2R) is essential to understand the physiology of water balance and it is used as a biological prototype of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Nephrogenic syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (NSIAD) is a syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) with low plasmatic vasopressin. The evidence on the role of V2 receptor and of aquaporin (AQP) in the mechanism of action for antidiuretic hormone (ADH) was based on the identification of protein gene mutations in patients with nephrogenic diabetes insipidus and NSIAD syndrome. V2R activating mutations were found in patients with NSIAD, contrasting with the numerous V2R inactivating mutations related to X-linked mutations described in patients with nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
Topics: Aquaporins; Diabetes Insipidus, Nephrogenic; Genetic Diseases, X-Linked; Humans; Inappropriate ADH Syndrome; Mutation; Neurophysins; Protein Precursors; Receptors, Vasopressin; Vasopressins
PubMed: 31312322
DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2019.32.210.6006 -
Frontiers in Neuroscience 2015Oxytocin and vasopressin are pituitary neuropeptides that have been shown to affect social processes in mammals. There is growing interest in these molecules and their... (Review)
Review
Oxytocin and vasopressin are pituitary neuropeptides that have been shown to affect social processes in mammals. There is growing interest in these molecules and their receptors as potential precipitants of, and/or treatments for, social deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder. Numerous behavioral-genetic studies suggest that there is an association between these peptides and individual social abilities; however, an explanatory model that links hormonal activity at the receptor level to complex human behavior remains elusive. The following review summarizes the known associations between the oxytocin and vasopressin neuropeptide systems and social neurocircuits in the brain. Following a micro- to macro- level trajectory, current literature on the synthesis and secretion of these peptides, and the structure, function and distribution of their respective receptors is first surveyed. Next, current models regarding the mechanism of action of these peptides on microcircuitry and other neurotransmitter systems are discussed. Functional neuroimaging evidence on the acute effects of exogenous administration of these peptides on brain activity is then reviewed. Overall, a model in which the local neuromodulatory effects of pituitary neuropeptides on brainstem and basal forebrain regions strengthen signaling within social neurocircuits proves appealing. However, these findings are derived from animal models; more research is needed to clarify the relevance of these mechanisms to human behavior and treatment of social deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders.
PubMed: 26441508
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00335 -
Journal of Neuroendocrinology Apr 2016In the last several decades, sophisticated experimental techniques have been used to determine the neurobiology of the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in rodents. Using... (Review)
Review
In the last several decades, sophisticated experimental techniques have been used to determine the neurobiology of the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in rodents. Using a suite of methodologies, including electrophysiology, site-specific selective pharmacology, receptor autoradiography, in vivo microdialysis, and genetic and optogenetic manipulations, we have gained unprecedented knowledge about how these neuropeptides engage neural circuits to regulate behaviour, particularly social behaviour. Based on this foundation of information from rodent studies, we have started generating new hypotheses and frameworks about how the oxytocin and vasopressin systems could be acting in humans to influence social cognition. However, despite the recent inundation of publications using intranasal oxytocin in humans, we still know very little about the neurophysiology of the oxytocin system in primates more broadly. Furthermore, the design and analysis of these human studies have remained largely uninformed of the potential neurobiological mechanisms underlying their findings. Although the methods available for studying the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in humans are incredibly limited as a result of practical and ethical considerations, there is great potential to fill the gaps in our knowledge by developing better nonhuman primate models of social functioning. Behavioural pharmacology and receptor autoradiography have been used to study the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in nonhuman primates, and there is now great potential to broaden our understanding of the neurobiology of these systems. In this review, we discuss comparative findings in receptor distributions in rodents and primates, with perspectives on the functionality of conserved regions of expression in these distinct mammalian clades. We also identify specific ways that established technologies can be used to answer basic research questions in primates. Finally, we highlight areas of future research in nonhuman primates that are experimentally poised to yield critical insights into the anatomy, physiology and behavioural effects of the oxytocin system, given its remarkable translational potential.
Topics: Animals; Receptors, Oxytocin; Receptors, Vasopressin; Species Specificity; Translational Research, Biomedical
PubMed: 26940141
DOI: 10.1111/jne.12382 -
Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism 2018Recent experiments using optogenetic tools allow the identification and functional analysis of thirst neurons and vasopressin producing neurons. Two major advances...
Recent experiments using optogenetic tools allow the identification and functional analysis of thirst neurons and vasopressin producing neurons. Two major advances provide a detailed anatomy of taste for water and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) release: (1) thirst and AVP release are regulated not only by the classical homeostatic, intero-sensory plasma osmolality negative feedback, but also by novel, extero-sensory, anticipatory signals. These anticipatory signals for thirst and vasopressin release converge on the same homeostatic neurons of circumventricular organs that monitor the composition of the blood; (2) acid-sensing taste receptor cells (which express polycystic kidney disease 2-like 1 protein) on the tongue that were previously suggested as the sour taste sensors also mediate taste responses to water. The tongue has a taste for water. The median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) of the hypothalamus could integrate multiple thirst-generating stimuli including cardiopulmonary signals, osmolality, angiotensin II, oropharyngeal and gastric signals, the latter possibly representing anticipatory signals. Dehydration is aversive and MnPO neuron activity is proportional to the intensity of this aversive state.
Topics: Animals; Arginine Vasopressin; Dehydration; Drinking; Eating; Homeostasis; Humans; Hypothalamus; Neurons; Taste; Thirst
PubMed: 29925072
DOI: 10.1159/000488233 -
Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology Aug 2022Modern human lifestyle strongly depends on complex social traits like empathy, tolerance and cooperation. These diverse facets of social cognition have been associated...
Modern human lifestyle strongly depends on complex social traits like empathy, tolerance and cooperation. These diverse facets of social cognition have been associated with variation in the oxytocin receptor () and its sister genes, the vasotocin/vasopressin receptors (/ and ). Here, we compared the available genomic sequences of these receptors between modern humans, archaic humans, and 12 non-human primate species, and identified sites that show heterozygous variation in modern humans and archaic humans distinct from variation in other primates, and for which we could find association studies with clinical implications. On these sites, we performed a range of analyses (variant clustering, pathogenicity prediction, regulation, linkage disequilibrium frequency), and reviewed the literature on selection data in different modern-human populations. We found five sites with modern human specific variation, where the modern human allele is the major allele in the global population (: rs1042778, rs237885, rs6770632; : rs10877969; : rs33985287). Among them, variation in the -rs6770632 site was predicted to be the most functional. Two alleles (: rs59190448 and rs237888) present only in modern humans and archaic humans were putatively under positive selection in modern humans, with rs237888 predicted to be a highly functional site. Three sites showed convergent evolution between modern humans and bonobos (: rs2228485 and rs237897; : rs1042615), with -rs2228485 ranking highly in terms of functionality and reported to be under balancing selection in modern humans (Schaschl, 2015) [1]. Our findings have implications for understanding hominid prosociality, as well as the similarities between modern human and bonobo social behavior.
PubMed: 35757177
DOI: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2022.100139