Normal excretion of vasopressin and the effect of everyday activity.

The urinary excretion of arginine vasopressin (AVP) was measured by bioassay in normal subjects at rest, on reduced physical activity and on routine everyday activity. The values obtained under rest conditions were all less than 10 mu/24 h with a mean less than 6.6 mu/24 h. Excretion of vasopressin increased with increasing activity, despite free access to water to mean values of 17 mu/24 h and 29 mu/24 h under conditions of reduced and routine every day activity respectively.