The role of phospholipase C in arginine vasopressin secretion by rat hypothalami in vitro

The role of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylinositol (PI) specific phospholipase C (PLC) enzymes in the release of immunoreactive arginine vasopressin (ir-AVP) from rat hypothalami in vitro was examined. PC-PLC (0.05-01 U ml-1) increased ir-AVP release but PI-PLC (0.01-0.5 U ml-1) did not. The response to a submaximal concentration of PC-PLC (0.075 U ml-1) was inhibited by the protei kinase C (PKC) inhibitor Ro 31-8220 (40 microM) and by removal of extracellular Ca2+ but was unaffected by the nitric oxide (NO) precursor L-arginine (1 mM), the NO synthase inhibitor N omega-nitro-L-arginine benzyl ester (1 mM) and the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) inhibitors quinacrine (100 microM) and dexamethasone (1 microM). The results suggest that PC-PLC plays an important role in AVP secretion. The responses to PC-PLC appear to be mediated by PKC but not by changes in NO synthase or PLA2 activity.