Vasopressin and renin responses to hemorrhage in conscious, cardiac-denervated dogs

Abstract
We measured plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP) and plasma renin activity (PRA) during continuous hemorrhage in cardiac-denervated and sham-operated conscious dogs. Hemorrhage produced comparable decreases in aortic pressure, cardiac output, stroke volume, pulmonary arterial pressure, and left and right atrial pressures in each group of dogs. After 10 ml blood/kg body wt had been removed, AVP was increased in sham-operated dogs (P less than 0.05) but not in cardiac-denervated dogs. After 20 and 30 ml blood/kg body wt had been removed, AVP was increased in all dogs, but the response was markedly attenuated in cardiac-denervated dogs. Hemorrhage at 10 and 20 ml/kg caused comparable increases in PRA in each group of dogs. However, at 30 ml/kg hemorrhage the increase in PRA was significantly higher in cardiac-denervated dogs than in sham-operated dogs. Our results suggest that cardiac receptors play a dominant role in mediating the release of AVP during hemorrhage in conscious dogs. In contrast, we found no evidence for a dominant role of cardiac receptors in mediating renin secretion during hemorrhage.