The hydroosmotic action of [arginine]vasopressin (vasopressin, 25 microU/ml) and of 8-Br-cAMP (10(-4)M) was studied in vitro in perfused cortical collecting tubules (CCT) isolated from rabbits fed with lithium chloride for 3 weeks. Vasopressin-dependent water reabsorption was significantly inhibited by 65% although no lithium was used in the in vitro experiments. The hydroosmotic action of 8-Br-cAMP was also inhibited by previous Li treatment, but the effect was smaller in magnitude. Water intake, diuresis, and urinary osmolality were no different in the lithium-treated animals as compared with respective pretreatment values or with control animals given an equivalent amount of sodium chloride. Neither the creatinine clearance nor the maximal urinary concentrating ability were modified by lithium treatment. A mathematical model simulating water reabsorption along the CCT predicts that a 65% reduction of vasopressin-stimulated hydraulic conductivity, as observed in the Li group, may not be sufficient to prevent a complete osmotic equilibration at the end of the CCT in vivo. We conclude that: (a) in the rabbit, lithium administration induces an impairment of the hydroosmotic action of vasopressin in the CCT, which is due to an inhibition of pre- and post-cAMP events. (b) The inhibition of vasopressin action can be demonstrated in vitro at a time when no detectable impairment of the water conservation process occurs in vivo.