Forty Years of the First Superactive Vasopressin. Discovery and Contemporary Importance

Abstract

The inversion of configuration and structural changes in the L-arginine unit of vasopressin strongly increased its antidiuretic activity. [Mpr¹,D-Arg⁸]vasopressin (DDAVP, Desmopressin ^TM), developed in the then Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, proved to be one of the most important drugs. Its history and versatile applications in medicine are outlined.