Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH)

Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH), also called vasopressin is a hormone that regulates the body's conservation of water.

Vasopressin is a nine-peptide hormone that acts on the kidney, causing it to reabsorb water. ADH acts specifically on the collecting ducts of the kidney by increasing their permeability to water so that they increase reabsorption.

The hormone can also stimuate the contraction of smooth vascular muscle and the smooth muscle of the GI tract, which is why it is known as vasopressin. Plasma levels of ADH need to be higer than normal physiological levels for this to occur, and preperations are used medically.

When there is a deficiency of antidiuretic hormone, a condition called hypotalamic diabetes insipidus can occur, in which large volumes of dilute urine are produced.

This page created 02 Jun 2016 18:30
Last updated 02 Jun 2016 18:38
