Arginine vasopressin infusion is sufficient to model preeclampsia in mice

Copeptin, the c-terminal fragment of arginine vasopressin (AVP), is considered a useful biomarker for the secretion of AVP. Preeclampsia, a cardiovascular disorder of pregnancy, has been associated with elevated maternal plasma copeptin concentrations. These findings led us to hypothesize that AVP secretion is elevated during preeclampsia, and may contribute to the pathogenesis of this disorder. To examine the effect of increased circulating AVP upon placental development, exogenous AVP was infused into pregnant wildtype C57BL/6J mice, and the transcriptome of a single placenta per dam was assessed at gestational day 12.5 by RNAseq. Pregnant C57BL/6J mice were infused with arginine vasopressin (AVP, 24ng/hr, sc) or saline via osmotic pumps from three days before mating until tissues were collected on gestational day 12.5. RNA from whole placenta was isolated, and transcriptomes were assessed by RNAsequencing.