The experimental intravenous administration of platelet activating factor (PAF) induces pulmonary hypertension and directly or indirectly increases capillary permeability. Selective PAF antagonists BN52021 and L652-731 have been shown to inhibit the action of PAF in vitro and in vivo. Using a unique isolated perfused rat lung model, we measured the effect of these PAF antagonists on PAF-induced pulmonary hypertension and edema. Isolated rat lungs were perfused with Krebs-Henseleit solution. The right and left pulmonary arteries were dissected so that they could be perfused selectively, permitting the use of one lung as an internal control for a specific pharmacologic challenge. Exposure of one lung to PAF induced an increase of perfusion pressure and wet/dry lung weight ratio in a dose-dependent manner compared with the control lung. The PAF antagonists attenuated the increase in perfusion pressure and wet/dry lung weight caused by PAF (0.75 micrograms) in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, prostaglandin F2 alpha induced an equivalent increase in pulmonary pressure without causing a similar increase in lung edema. PAF-induced pulmonary hypertension and the increase in wet/dry lung weight ratio appear to be PAF receptor-mediated processes, and the use of specific antagonists and this technique may be useful probes to determine the role of PAF in pathophysiologic states.