Vasopressin, also called antidiuretic hormone, is released from the brain, and known to work in the kidney, suppressing a process called diuresis. According to a study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, vasopressin does more than conserve body water — it also stimulates red blood cell production.
Vasopressin is an antidiuretic hormone, whose best known functions are to promote water retention and maintain fluid balance. However, it also has other effects, and Mayer et al discovered that these include stimulation of red blood cell maturation. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.
“Drugs targeting one specific vasopressin receptor could offer a much-needed safe therapy to replenish red blood cells after traumatic injuries or chemotherapy,” said study’s lead author Dr. Balázs Mayer from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and colleagues.
In mouse models, they showed that vasopressin boosted red blood cell formation faster than the other well-characterized hormone, erythropoietin.
The team narrowed in on this unexpected role for vasopressin by examining clinical data from 92 patients with central diabetes insipidus (a condition that causes deficiencies of the hormone).
Of those individuals, 87% of males and 51% of females had the red blood cell deficiency anemia, compared to prevalence rates of 1.5 to 6% for males and 4.4 to 12% for females among the general U.S. population.
The scientists further demonstrated that all three varieties of the receptor for vasopressin are present on blood-forming stem cells, but one particular form of the protein (AVPR1B) plays a predominant part in red blood cell production.
Treating mice with vasopressin or a specific AVPR1B activator following injury- or radiation-induced blood loss sped up recovery from anemia for the animals.
“Vasopressin triggers red blood cell production on short time scales, before erythropoietin kicks in,” Dr. Mayer and co-authors said.
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Balázs Mayer et al. 2017. Vasopressin stimulates the proliferation and differentiation of red blood cell precursors and improves recovery from anemia. Science Translational Medicine 9 (418); doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aao1632
