The anteroventral third ventricle region. Participation in the regulation of blood pressure in conscious dogs.

The anteroventral third ventricle (AV3V) region plays an important role in fluid and electrolyte balance and cardiovascular control in the rat; however, experiments in other species have raised questions about the universality of findings in the rat. The effects of discrete lesions placed within the AV3V area on hydromineral balance, the pressor response to angiotensin II given intravenously, and the initiation of a renin-dependent model of hypertension were examined in the dog. A transpharyngeal approach to the optic chiasm enabled us to destroy only the anterior aspects of the AV3V region (aAV3V group) or to include the entire nucleus medianus (NM) as well (aAV3V + NM group). Lesions of the aAV3V caused polydipsia and transient hypernatremia and hyperosmolality. In contrast, adipsia and a sustained increase in plasma sodium levels and osmolality were observed in dogs with lesions of the aAV3V plus the entire NM. Neither lesion altered baseline arterial pressure, heart rate, plasma levels of catecholamines and vasopressin, or total plasma protein levels. Only in aAV3V + NM lesioned dogs was there a tendency for plasma angiotensin II immunoreactivity to be elevated above control values at 2 and 4 days after operation. Neither lesion attenuated the pressor response to intravenous angiotension II or the initiation of renal hypertension induced by aortic coarctation. As observed in other species, structures within the AV3V region participate in hydromineral balance in the dog; however, in the dog portions of the NM dorsal to the AV3V region are essential for the mediation of drinking behavior.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)