• Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. · Apr 2011

    Clinical Trial

    Effects of the vasopressin agonist terlipressin on plasma cAMP and ENaC excretion in the urine in patients with cirrhosis and water retention.

    • Aleksander Krag, Erling B Pedersen, Søren Møller, and Flemming Bendtsen.
    • Department of Gastroenterology, Hvidovre University Hospital, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. aleksander.krag@hvh.regionh.dk
    • Scand. J. Clin. Lab. Invest. 2011 Apr 1; 71 (2): 112-6.

    BackgroundTerlipressin is a vasopressin analogue used for its potent V1a effects in cirrhotic patients. Recent data suggest that terlipressin has affinity to renal V2 receptors and modulates Aquaporin 2 (AQP2) expression and free water clearance. Stimulation of renal V2 receptors may also affect sodium transport via the Epithelial Sodium Channel (ENaC). Furthermore, endothelial V2 receptors may indirectly affect proximal sodium handling by increasing plasma cAMP.MethodsWe investigated 18 patients with cirrhosis and ascites before and after infusion of 2 mg of terlipressin. Plasma cAMP and urine AQP2 were measured and a newly developed radioimmunoassay was used to quantify ENaC in the urine.ResultsMean arterial blood pressure increased from 87 ± 15 to 105 ± 19 mmHg, p < 0.001 after terlipressin infusion and GFR increased from 52 ± 6 to 69 ± 9 mL/min, p < 0.01. Urine-ENaC in ng/mmol creatinine increased from 42 ± 6 to 50 ± 7 ng/mmol creatinine, p = 0.05. Urine sodium increased from 43 ± 8 to 62 ± 9 mmol/L, p < 0.01. Plasma cAMP was not affected by terlipressin, 106 (63-673) vs. 103.5 (69-774) pmol/mL, NS. The rise in ENaC excretion correlated with the rise in AQP2 excretion, r = 0.63, p < 0.01. There was a weak correlation between the change in MAP and the rise in AQP2 excretion (p < 0.05).ConclusionsIncreased ENaC excretion suggests increased abundance of ENaC and resultant increased distal sodium reabsorption. The V2 effects of terlipressin are insufficient to stimulate the endothelial V2 receptors since plasma cAMP is unaltered. Despite pronounced V1a and some V2 effects of terlipressin, additional effects on proximal sodium handling are therefore not likely.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.