Functionally similar ischemic acute renal failure (ARF), as estimated by glomerular filtration rates (GFR), was induced by renal artery clamping (RAC) or intrarenal norepinephrine (NE) in rats and renovascular reactivity was examined at 1 week. With RAC-ARF induction there was total renal ischemia followed by abrupt return of renal blood flow (RBF). With NE-ARF induction there was subtotal ischemia (10-15% of basal RBF) with RBF recovery over several hours. Renovascular resistance (RVR) did not change to renal perfusion pressure (RPP) reduction in the autoregulatory range in RAC-ARF but paradoxically increased in NE-ARF. There was an exaggerated response to renal nerve stimulation in NE-ARF but no response in RAC-ARF. There was a vasoconstrictor response to intrarenal norepinephrine in the former but a negligible response in the latter. There was no vasodilation to acetylcholine in either group, but there was a normal response to prostacyclin in NE-ARF. Smooth muscle necrosis was found in 46% of resistance arterial vessels in RAC- but in only 8% of NE-ARF (p less than .001). When mean arterial pressure was reduced to 90 mm Hg for 4 h at 1 week, recurrent azotemia and fresh ischemic injury were noted in NE- but not RAC-ARF. It is concluded that different models of ischemic ARF induction result in different patterns of abnormal postischemic vascular reactivity. Differences in vascular smooth muscle and endothelial injury are due to differences in initial ischemia or rates of postischemic reperfusion.