A specific antibody to vasopressin in a man with concomitant resistance to treatment with Pitressin.

A 26-year-old man with complete neurogenic diabetes insipidus since age nine was initially treated with vasopressin (Pitressin Tannate in oil). At age 13, its dosages were progressively increased to control the patient's polyuria; minor allergic symptoms occurred after every such treatment. We incubated serial dilutions of the patient's plasma with 125I-labeled arginine-vasopressin and obtained a 50% specific binding for the plasma at a final dilution of 625-fold. Cross-reactivity studies showed that lysine-vasopressin was better recognized by the antibody than arginine-vasopressin. These results were attributed to large concentrations of lysine-vasopressin (pork vasopressin) in the Pitressin.