Ischaemic pain versus mental task: Effect on plasma arginine vasopressin in man

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Abstract
Plasma arginine vasopressin (pAVP) was determined by radioimmunoassay in healthy male subjects under 2 types of standardized and reproducible stress conditions: ischemic muscle pain and a mental task. Forearm blood flow, a sensitive indicator of emotional stress, and heart rate were measured. Ischemic muscle pain induced a pronounced increase of pAVP. In striking contrast, the mental task consisting of the Stroop color-word test and mental arithmetic did not cause a significant change of pAVP. Heart rate accelerated during both experimental procedures; forearm blood flow remained unchanged during ischemic muscle pain, but increased during the mental task.