Effects of centrally applied vasopressin on the pituitary ACTH cells in male rats

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is synthesized in specific brain regions including the magnocellular and parvocellular divisions of paraventricular nucleus (PVN). While magnocellular AVP responds to osmotic stimuli and functions mainly - although not exclusively - as an antidiuretic hormone, AVP produced in the parvocellular region controls the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, in conjunction with CRH (Ferrini et al., 1997). ACTH release from anterior pituitary gland is principally driven by two hypothalamic hormones, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) (Tsigos and Chrousos, 2002). null