---
title: "Vasopressin"
canonical_url: https://peptidelibrary.app/library/vasopressin
description: "Endogenous nonapeptide hormone, available as a prescription intravenous product, approved to raise blood pressure in adults with vasodilatory shock who remain hypotensive despite fluids and catecholamines."
updated: 2026-11-07
publisher: Peptide Library
notice: "Research and educational use only. Not medical advice."
---

# Vasopressin

Vasopressin is an FDA-approved antidiuretic hormone in the Vasopressin Receptor Agonist class. Vasopressin acts at V1a receptors on vascular smooth muscle, where Gq-coupled signalling raises intracellular calcium and produces vasoconstriction, and at renal V2 receptors, where it drives aquaporin-2 insertion into collecting duct membranes and promotes water reabsorption.

Endogenous nonapeptide hormone, available as a prescription intravenous product, approved to raise blood pressure in adults with vasodilatory shock who remain hypotensive despite fluids and catecholamines.

## Classification

- Type: FDA-approved antidiuretic hormone
- Mechanism class: Vasopressin Receptor Agonist
- Development stage: Approved product
- Regulatory class: FDA-approved medicine

## Mechanism

Vasopressin acts at V1a receptors on vascular smooth muscle, where Gq-coupled signalling raises intracellular calcium and produces vasoconstriction, and at renal V2 receptors, where it drives aquaporin-2 insertion into collecting duct membranes and promotes water reabsorption. Its vasoconstrictor action is preserved in acidotic and catecholamine-refractory states, which is the basis for its use in shock.

## Properties

- Studied routes: Intravenous

## Evidence

- Evidence level: FDA Approved
- Highest documented: Regulatory review (FDA label)
- Human trials: 0
- Controlled human trials: 0
- Preclinical sources: 0

Each step shows whether the sources Peptide Library has reviewed include that kind of research. Counts are reviewed sources, not every study ever published. Reviews and programme summaries that describe human use are shown as "reported", not as trials, and registered trials without published results are listed but not counted. A higher step means research has progressed further; it does not mean a compound works better or is safer. Compounds whose evidence has not been reviewed yet show "Not reviewed" instead of a guess.

### Studies

1. VASOSTRICT (vasopressin injection) — FDA prescribing information, DailyMed. Regulatory label (FDA), human. Population: Adults with vasodilatory shock (post-cardiotomy or septic) who remain hypotensive despite fluids and catecholamines. Increased blood pressure [Source](https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=b1147beb-743e-4c62-8927-91192447f8b8)

## Safety

Human safety basis: FDA prescribing information

## Regulatory status

Vasopressin is an FDA-approved product for specific labelled indications. Approval does not extend to the research contexts described on this page, and approved products are prescription medicines.

- FDA status: Approved
- Availability: Prescription-Only

## Frequently asked questions

### What is Vasopressin?

Endogenous nonapeptide hormone, available as a prescription intravenous product, approved to raise blood pressure in adults with vasodilatory shock who remain hypotensive despite fluids and catecholamines.

### How does Vasopressin work?

Vasopressin acts at V1a receptors on vascular smooth muscle, where Gq-coupled signalling raises intracellular calcium and produces vasoconstriction, and at renal V2 receptors, where it drives aquaporin-2 insertion into collecting duct membranes and promotes water reabsorption. Its vasoconstrictor action is preserved in acidotic and catecholamine-refractory states, which is the basis for its use in shock.

### Is Vasopressin FDA approved?

Yes. Vasopressin is approved by the FDA, and approved products are prescription medicines. Approval is always for specific indications studied in clinical trials, so an approved status does not mean the compound is approved for every use it is discussed for. Research-chemical material sold under the same name is not the approved product.

### What peptides are similar to Vasopressin?

Compounds most often compared with Vasopressin include Desmopressin, Terlipressin, Angiotensin II and Cetrorelix. They are grouped by shared mechanism or research area rather than by equivalence, and their regulatory status and evidence base differ.

## References

- [Vasopressin and its analogues in patients with septic shock: holy Grail or unfulfilled promise? — Crit Care, 2025](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40731360/)
- [Arginine Vasopressin, Synaptic Plasticity, and Brain Networks — Curr Neuropharmacol, 2022](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35193483/)
- [Linking oxytocin and arginine vasopressin signaling abnormalities to social behavior impairments in Prader-Willi syndrome — Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 2022](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36113782/)
- [Pharmacological Chaperones as Potential Therapeutic Strategies for Misfolded Mutant Vasopressin Receptors — Handb Exp Pharmacol, 2018](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28939971/)
- [Arginine Vasopressin and Copeptin in Perinatology — Front Pediatr, 2016](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27532032/)