Cerebrospinal fluid vasopressin in neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Vasopressin was determined in CSF and plasma of 243 patients with different neurological and psychiatric disorders, including control patients. CSF vasopressin was significantly higher in patients with high pressure hydrocephalus, intracranial tumour, benign intracranial hypertension, intracranial haemorrhage, ischaemic stroke, and craniocerebral trauma. In patients with primary degenerative dementia, CSF vasopressin was lower than in control patients. Among patients with psychiatric disorders, CSF vasopressin was increased in manic patients, while in patients with depression CSF concentration of this hormone did not differ from that found in controls. However, an increase in CSF vasopressin level was found in patients recovering from a depression. The clinical significance of changes in CSF vasopressin concentrations in groups of patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders is still unknown.