Exogenous administration of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK) is known to decrease food intake and slow gastric emptying in humans and animals. Recent studies have shown that CCK stimulates neurohypophyseal secretion of oxytocin (OT) in rats and arginine vasopressin (AVP) in monkeys, and that gastric distention also stimulates OT release in rats. We therefore studied AVP and OT secretion in 14 normal subjects in response to meal-induced gastric distention and administration of CCK, both separately and in combination, to assess whether these stimuli similarly activated central neurohypophyseal pathways in humans. Neither plasma AVP nor OT concentrations increased after gastric distention produced by ingestion of a large meal. However, a dose-related increase in plasma AVP, but not OT levels, occurred after CCK administration, the threshold CCK dose being 0.05 micrograms/kg body weight. The AVP secretion in response to CCK administration was significantly correlated with subjective aversive symptoms quantified by use of a numeric scale (r = 0.61, P less than 0.001). In 12 of the 14 subjects plasma AVP levels increased in association with symptoms of epigastric pressure and discomfort before the onset of overt nausea or emesis. The combination of CCK and meal-induced gastric distention did not stimulate increases in plasma AVP levels in excess of those produced by CCK administration alone. The results demonstrate that AVP secretion resulting from emetic center activation often is a graded response that can begin in association with milder degrees of visceral discomfort before symptoms of overt nausea or emesis. In addition, the stimulation of AVP secretion by CCK administration, but not by meal-induced gastric distention in association with physiological satiety, suggests that some component of the anorectic effects of exogenous CCK in man likely results from activation of brainstem emetic centers.