Experiments were performed in anesthetized rats to examine the possibility that endothelin (ET) modifies renal epithelial function in addition to its well-established hemodynamic actions. Infusion of ET-3 at rates between 34 and 178 ng.kg-1.min-1 was in many cases followed by a rise in urine flow and a persistent decrease in urine osmolality, whereas glomerular filtration rate (GFR) did not significantly change. The extent of ET-induced diuresis was dependent on the response of GFR: in rats in which ET-3 infusion caused a marked reduction of GFR (greater than 70%) ET-induced diuresis was not seen, even though urine osmolality still fell significantly. From animal to animal, ET-induced changes of urine flow or GFR did not correlate significantly with the rate of ET-3 infusion. ET-1, another ET isopeptide, also produced water diuresis when administered in GFR-neutral doses. Urinary excretion of total solutes and of sodium was not significantly altered by ET-3. Infusion of vasopressin blunted the diuretic effect of ET-3, whereas ET-3-induced water diuresis was not measurably altered by chronic or acute treatment with a converting enzyme inhibitor or by acute inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis. Induction of water diuresis was not secondary to an inhibition of vasopressin secretion since it could be demonstrated in homozygous Brattleboro rats in which antidiuresis was produced by the infusion of vasopressin at a rate of 200 microU.kg-1.min-1. These data suggest that ET may be an inhibitory modulator of the hydrosmotic action of vasopressin at the level of the renal collecting duct.