No abstract

Background: During stress, arginine vasopressin (AVP) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) can act as potent hypothalamic stimulators of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis. Recently, plasma CT-proAVP, also termed copeptin, was found to be a stable and sensitive surrogate marker for AVP release. A valid assessment of both CRH and copeptin in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) might directly quantify an individual's current stress level. Here we investigated how concentrations of CRH and copeptin in CSF alter during insulininduced hypoglycemia test (IHT) -which has been shown to activate both hypothalamic AVP and CRH -and hypothesized an increase of both.