Because clinical data suggests that females may be more prone to hyponatremia from AVP-mediated antidiuresis, we investigated whether there are sex differences in the expression and function of the renal V 2R. In normal Sprague-Dawley rat kidneys, V 2R mRNA and protein expression was 2.6-and 1.7-fold higher, respectively, in females compared with males. To investigate the potential physiological implications of this sex difference, we studied changes in urine osmolality induced by the AVP V 2R agonist desmopressin. In response to different doses of desmopressin, there was a graded increase in urine osmolality and decrease in urine volume during a 24-h infusion. Females showed greater mean increases in urine osmolality and greater mean decreases in urine volume at 0.5 and 5.0 ng/h infusion rates. We also studied renal escape from antidiuresis produced by water loading in rats infused with desmopressin (5.0 ng/h). After 5 days of water loading, urine osmolality of both female and male rats escaped to the same degree physiologically, but V 2R mRNA and protein in female kidneys was reduced to a greater degree (Ϫ63% and Ϫ73%, respectively) than in males (Ϫ32% and Ϫ48%, respectively). By the end of the 5-day escape period, renal V2R mRNA and protein expression were reduced to the same relative levels in males and females, thereby abolishing the sex differences in V2R expression seen in the basal state. Our results demonstrate that female rats express significantly more V2R mRNA and protein in kidneys than males, and that this results physiologically in a greater sensitivity to V2R agonist administration. The potential pathophysiological implications of these results are that females may be more susceptible to the development of dilutional hyponatremia because of a greater sensitivity to endogenously secreted AVP. renal escape; desmopressin; hyponatremia THE PRIME DETERMINANT OF WATER homeostasis in animals and man is the regulation of urinary free water excretion by circulating plasma levels of the hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP). AVP is a nine-amino acid peptide that is synthesized in magnocellular neural cells located in the hypothalamus. The synthesized peptide is enzymatically cleaved from its prohormone and is transported to the posterior pituitary where it is stored within neurosecretory granules until specific stimuli cause secretion of AVP into the bloodstream (23). Antidiuresis then occurs via interaction of the circulating hormone with AVP V 2 receptors (V 2 Rs) in the kidney, which results in increased water permeability of the collecting duct through the insertion aquaporin-2 (AQP2) water channels into the apical membranes of renal collecting duct principal cells (19). The importance of AVP in water homeostasis is underscored by the pathophysiology that occurs when AVP, or AVP-mediated receptor activation, is either deficient or excessive (27).The most common disorder of AVP dysregulation encountered in clinical medicine is hypoosmolar hyponatremia. Studies of hyponatremia in hospitalized patients have ...