We have investigated the role of angiotensin II in the development of high blood pressure and in the maintenance of renal function during 2 weeks of one-kidney renal artery stenosis in conscious dogs. Responses to a fixed degree of inflation of a balloon cuff around the renal artery were compared in dogs with or without continuous enalapril (MK 421) treatment. In six untreated dogs, mean aortic pressure was increased by 17.1 +/- 2.0 mm Hg, due primarily to increases in total peripheral resistance with little change in cardiac output, while glomerular filtration rate, renal blood flow, renal artery pressure, and plasma renin activity were back to prestenosis levels. In seven enalapril-treated dogs mean aortic pressure was increased by 23.0 +/- 2.7 mm Hg and was not significantly different from that occurring in untreated dogs. This rise was due to increases in total peripheral resistance (10%) and cardiac output (12%). In the absence of angiotensin II, glomerular filtration rate remained low, at only 56 +/- 6% of prestenosis levels. Renal blood flow returned to normal, but the renal artery pressure remained 25% lower than control values. Thus, the main role of angiotensin II in chronic one-kidney Goldblatt hypertension does not appear to be through its pressor properties but rather through its actions in the kidney to preserve glomerular filtration. This effect on renal function persisted throughout the course of the hypertension, even when the plasma renin levels returned to normal.