Pituitary and plasma AVT content in the flounder (Platichthys flesus)

Radioimmunoassay measurement of pituitary AVT content and plasma AVT concentration indicated comparable levels in fully adapted sea water (SW) and fresh water (FW) flounders. Circulating AVT represented less than 0.1% of the pituitary AVT reserve. The urophysis contained AVT but the total content was only 2 or 3 fold that of circulating AVT. In fish adapted to hypertonic media, there was a close correlation between plasma AVT concentration and plasma Na⁺ concentration or osmolality. The present study examined the effects of acute osmotic challenge, associated with FW to SW transfer, and the influence of extracellular fluid volume status on AVT secretion. Short-term transfer of fish from FW to SW (up to 3 days) did not evoke a clear change in plasma AVT levels, though pituitary content was reduced at 24 h. During the first 3 days after transfer to SW, only small increments in plasma tonicity were apparent. The sensitivity of AVT secretion to osmotic stimuli may only be expressed when plasma osmolality has exceeded a specific threshold, which was probably not reached in these transfer studies. Fish in hypotonic media showed no relationship between plasma osmolality/tonicity and plasma AVT concentration. Acute extracellular fluid volume expansion of SW adapted fish also abolished the normally observed relationship between plasma osmolality and AVT concentration in these hypertonic media fish. This trend indicates that volume status may modulate the sensitivity of AVT secretion to osmotic stimuli as occurs in tetrapods.