Previous experiments have shown that arginine vasopressin (AVP) released within the septal brain area of adult male rats in response to defined stressor exposure is involved in emotionality-related behavior. We report here that a 10-min forced swimming session stimulated the release of glutamate, aspartate, arginine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and taurine but not alanine and serine in the medio-lateral part of this brain structure. Local administration of the AVP V1 receptor antagonist d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)AVP by inverse microdialysis caused a significant increase in the concentration of taurine in microdialysates under resting conditions that was further potentiated during forced swimming. In contrast, the release of alanine, arginine, GABA and serine was unaffected by antagonist treatment. Taken together with previous data, our results suggest that the effects of intraseptally released AVP on stress-coping strategies might be mediated at least in part via its influence on the local release of taurine.