PGE2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha excretion in Brattleboro rats with hereditary hypothalamic diabetes insipidus.

Brattleboro rats, a strain with hereditary hypothalamic diabetes insipidus, were found to excrete significantly higher amounts of both renal (PGE2) and vascular (6-keto-PGF1 alpha) prostaglandins than control Long-Evans rats. The increased prostaglandin synthesis was reversed by vasopressin treatment. These results suggest that in the intact organism prostaglandin synthesis in the kidneys and in the endothelial cells of blood vessels may be under tonic inhibitory control by vasopressin. The findings further support the view that prostaglandins play an important role in the regulation of water excretion and in the pathogenesis of polyuric conditions.