Plasma immunoreactive atrial natriuretic peptide and vasopressin after ethanol intake in man.

To study the mechanisms of alcohol-induced diuresis, the plasma concentration of immunoreactive atrial natriuretic peptide and arginine vasopressin, serum sodium and osmolality, plasma renin activity and aldosterone, urinary sodium and volume, free water clearance, blood pressure and heart rate were measured in seven healthy men after oral intake of ethanol (1.5 g kg-1 in 6 h). Serum ethanol levels increased to 27 +/- 4 mmol l-1 (mean +/- SD) in 30 min and remained detectable for 14 h. Serum osmolality rose from 280 +/- 10 to 340 +/- 4 mosm kg-1 in 2 hours (P less than 0.01) and was 300 +/- 4 at 14 h (P less than 0.01). Formation of hypotonic urine began after the alcohol intake and resulted in a net loss of 0.9 +/- 0.1 kg water in 2 h. Free water clearance increased from -3.4 +/- 1.4 to 2.8 +/- 1.5 ml min-1 in 2 h (P less than 0.01). Plasma immunoreactive arginine vasopressin decreased from 5.7 +/- 2.1 to 3.3 +/- 1.3 ng l-1 (P = 0.05) in 30 min and increased to 17 +/- 25 and 12 +/- 10 ng l-1 at 6 and 12 h, respectively (P less than 0.05 for both). Plasma immunoreactive atrial natriuretic peptide levels decreased from 17 +/- 9 to the minimum of 11 +/- 3 ng l-1 in 2 h (P less than 0.01) and returned to the initial levels in 6 h. Serum sodium, plasma renin activity and plasma aldosterone increased maximally by 4 +/- 2, 165 +/- 153 and 143 +/- 101% (P less than 0.01 each) during 1-6 h.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)