Effect of available surface water on levels of antidiuretic hormone (lysine vasopressin) and water and electrolyte metabolism of the Rottnest Island quokka (Setonix brachyurus)

Comparative water metabolism of Barrow Island macropodid marsupials: Hormonal versus behavioural-dependent mechanisms of body water conservation

“…Circulating concentrations of LVP have been measured in tammar joeys (Wilkes and Jannsens, 1986) and correlate well with the dev elopment of concentrating capacities in the kidney of this species. The effect of available surface water on circulating levels of LVP in the quokka was documented by (Jones, Bradshaw, Fergusson and Watts, 1990), who concluded from this study that LVP is the phy siological antidiuretic hormone in this species. Phenypressin is also found in the neurohypophysis of macropodid marsupials (Chauv et, Hurpet, Chauvet and Acher, 1980) but the study of (Bradshaw, Morris and Bradshaw, 2001) on kidney function of two species of desert wallab ies indicates that LVP, rather than pheny pressin, is the physiological ADH of macropodid marsupials.…”

“…Plasma ADH levels were first reported in the field in the marsupial tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii, by (Bakker and Bradshaw, 1978;Bakker, Bradshaw and Main, 1982) using a toad bioassay and later assay ed as LVP by (Wilkes and Jannsens, 1986). Water metabolism and changes in LVP lev els were also studied in another small wallaby , the quokka Setonix brachyurus, on Rottnest Island by (Jones, et al, 1990). They found that sub-populations of this species liv ing in areas lacking all free water had significantly elevated lev els of LV P, averaging 89.2 ± 19.5 pg.mL -1 , compared with a lev el of 35.6 ± 15.8 pg.mL -1 in quokkas that had access to brackish drinking water on the margins of hyper-saline salt lakes.…”

“…Lys 8 -vasopressin (LV P) was assayed by RIA using the method originally developed for arginine vasotocin by (Rice, 1982) and modified for the measurement of LVP in marsupial plasma by (Jones, et al, 1990). Sy nthetic [Lys 8 ]-vasopressin (Sigma V-6879) was iodinated with iodine-125 using the chloramine-T oxidation method of (Hunter and Greenwood, 1962) and a high specific activ ity fraction isolated on a Sephadex G25 column.…”

Endocrinology of osmoregulation and thermoregulation of Australian desert tetrapods: A historical perspective

“…During mid-summer, quokkas on the west end of the island with no drinking water had significantly higher plasma LVP levels of 89.2 ± 19.6 pg ml -1 compared to those near the lakes with access to brackish drinking water that had plasma LVP levels of 35.6 ± 15.8 pg ml -1 . Body condition and total body water contents were higher for quokkas near the lakes, and these individuals also had higher rates of water and sodium turnover and lower plasma and urinary osmolalites compared to quokkas on the waterless west end of the island (Jones et al 1990). Quokkas subsisting in an arid waterless habitat showed evidence of dehydration and their lower water turnover rates were mediated by the effects of elevated plasma LVP.…”

“…Work on arid-habitat Australian marsupials pioneered the measurement of antidiuretic hormones for wild, free-living mammals (Bradshaw 2007). Jones et al (1990) examined water and osmolyte balance, and measured plasma LVP for the quokka on Rottnest Island where quokkas experience seasonally arid conditions. Most individuals on the island survive without access to drinking water during summer and only those with home ranges near the salt lakes in the centre of the island have access to brackish drinking water (Bradshaw 2007).…”