Blood pressure-lowering effect of an orally active vasopressin V1 receptor antagonist in mineralocorticoid hypertension in the rat.

We studied the contribution of vasopressin to the maintenance of high blood pressure in deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertension in the rat using the nonpeptide orally effective vasopressin V1 receptor antagonist OPC-21268. Binding kinetic studies demonstrated that oral OPC-21268 (30 mg/kg) acted as a competitive antagonist at the vasopressin V1 receptor in DOCA-salt and salt control rats. Basal mean intra-arterial blood pressure was 140 +/- 4 mm Hg (n = 12) in DOCA-salt rats compared with 111 +/- 2 mm Hg in salt control rats (n = 18). Acute oral OPC-21268 (30 mg/kg) significantly (P