The relative contributions of three kininases to total urinary kininase activity were determined by measuring the hydrolysis of kinins in the presence and absence of inhibitors of kininase I (2-mercaptomethyl-3-guanidinoethylthiopropanoic acid; MGTA), kininase II (captopril) and neutral endopeptidase 24.11 (NEP or enkephalinase A; phosphoramidon). Surprisingly, NEP was responsible for 68 +/- 2% (N = 18) of the total kininase in the rat while kininase I and II contributed only 9 +/- 0.4% and 23 +/- 1%, respectively. To study the effects of NEP inhibition on renal function, phosphoramidon (110 or 330 micrograms/hr/kg; N = 6) or saline (0.1 microliter/min; N = 6) was infused into rats. Urinary kinins, kininases, renal blood flow (RBF), glomerular filtration rate (GFR), UNaV, UKV and UV were measured during control, experimental and recovery periods. Phosphoramidon at the higher dose decreased total urinary kininase activity from 284 +/- 49 to 58 +/- 5 ng/min/kg (77%, P less than 0.01), and increased kinin excretion from 74 +/- 9 to 128 +/- 21 pg/min/kg (73%, P less than 0.02), UV from 72 +/- 10 to 82 +/- 10 microliters/min/kg (15%, P less than 0.01) and UNaV from 12 +/- 2 to 17 +/- 3 microEq/min/kg (37%, P less than 0.02), while BP, RBF, GFR and UKV did not change. 125I-Tyr0-bradykinin infused into the aorta did not appear in the urine intact during simultaneous phosphoramidon and captopril administration. This is the first demonstration of NEP having a major role in the catabolism of kinins. The increase in UNaV and UV after phosphoramidon administration may be due to the inhibition of intrarenal kinin destruction.