DDAVP, 1-desamino-8-D-arginine-vasopressin, is a synthetic analog of arginine vasopressin which produces prolonged antidiuresis after intranasal administration to patients with complete central diabetes insipidus. We have studied the mechanism of the prolonged antidiuretic effect by specific radioimmunossay of DDAVP in plasma of patients and by in vitro studies on the adenylate cyclase-cylic AMP system of the rat outer renal medulla. When DDAVP was administredd to patients, all responded, but the duration of response among patients varied from 5-21 h. The peak level of DDAVP in plasma was achieved up to 4 h after administration indicating a slow absorption from the nasal mucosa. The disappearance time of DDAVP from plasma correlated significantly with the duration of antidiuresis, P less than 0.001. On a molar basis DDAVP was 3-fold greater than AVP in its stimulation of outer medullary adenylate cyclase activity and 10-fold greater than AVP in its stimulation of cyclic AMP content. The prolonged antidiuresis of intranasally administered DDAVP is due to slow absorption, presistence in plasma, and enchanced effect on the kidney.