Antidiuretic hormone excretion at high altitude.

Urinary excretion of electrolytes, creatinine, urea, and antidiuretic hormone--measured as arginine vasopressin (AVP) by radioimmunoassay--was investigated in eight Himalayan mountaineers during ascent on foot from 1900- 5400 m. Specimens were collected from each individual whenever urine was voided, preserved with 1% boric acid, and subsequently pooled to give samples representative of 24-h collections. AVP was found to be reasonably stable under simulated conditions of storage. In all subjects, the observed AVP excretion rates were mostly in the lower region of the normal range and there was generally no correlation with altitude, urine osmolality, electrolyte excretion, or occurrence of AMS symptoms--even in a fatal case of cerebral oedema. It is concluded that AVP does not play a primary role in the changes in fluid balance which accompany either acclimatization to high altitude or the onset of AMS.