Similarity of vasopressin receptors in seminal vesicles and renal medulla of pigs

To test the hypothesis that the vasopressin receptors found in seminal vesicles are similar to those present in the renal tubules competition experiments were performed with vasopressin and several analogues with different specificities for the V1 and V2 subtypes of vasopressin receptor. Autoradiographic studies were carried out on sections from seminal vesicles and kidney to identify the cellular target of vasopressin. Vasopressin receptors in renal medulla and seminal vesicles of pigs shared the same rank order of potency for vasopressin and its analogues and were localized in the epithelium of the seminal vesicles and in collecting tubules of renal medulla. These results strongly suggest that the vasopressin receptors present in kidney and seminal vesicles belong to the same subtype, V2, of vasopressin receptor.