1. The thirst and plasma vasopressin responses to single-blind controlled intravenous angiotensin II infusions (2-16 ng min−1 kg−1) were investigated in ten healthy young men.
2. Thirst and vasopressin secretion were stimulated in four out of ten subjects. These effects occurred at plasma angiotensin concentrations well above those measured under physiological conditions associated with thirst and vasopressin secretion such as water deprivation.
3. Further studies are needed to define why only certain individuals respond to intravenous angiotensin II infusions and to determine whether potentiation of angiotensin-induced thirst and vasopressin secretion by other stimuli (e.g. hypovolaemia and hypertonicity) might occur in man, in particular under pathological conditions when plasma angiotensin levels are above the physiological range.
