To characterize the influence of extracellular volume status on vasopressin pharmacokinetics, eleven young (aged 19-31 yr) and four old (aged 62-80 yr) subjects received bolus injections of 1 mU/kg Pitressin or synthetic arginine vasopressin following 6 days of sodium depletion (10 meq Na/day) or sodium loading (250 meq Na/day). In six young subjects the rapid decline in plasma vasopressin (pAVP) following the initial peak was interrupted by a second peak 5-30 pg/ml in magnitude 7.5-20 min after injection. In four of these subjects the second peak was larger following sodium depletion as compared with sodium loading. In the elderly a small (4 pg/ml) second peak was present in one sodium-depleted subject. Of five sodium-depleted subjects with central diabetes insipidus, none showed a secondary rise in pAVP. These results indicate that exogenous vasopressin may stimulate the release of endogenous AVP, an effect that appears to be enhanced by sodium depletion and is virtually absent in the elderly. There was no effect of age, volume status, or diabetes insipidus on AVP pharmacokinetics.