The role of the renal nerves in the natriuresis seen after cholinergic stimulation of the hypothalamus was studied in anesthetized rats treated with injection into the lateral hypothalamus (LH) of 1 microgram of carbamylcholine chloride (carbachol) in 1 microliter of 0.15 M NaCl or NaCl alone. Injection of carbachol exhibited diuresis and natriuresis both in acutely denervated kidneys (P less than 0.01) and in contralateral innervated kidneys (P less than 0.01) without changes in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) or renal plasma flow (RPF) (n = 10). Salt and water excretion was unchanged in 10 rats after injection of NaCl. Micropuncture studies in denervated kidneys showed that, after carbachol injection, tubular fluid-to-plasma inulin concentration ratio [(F/P)In] in the late proximal tubule fell from 1.86 +/- 0.08 to 1.64 +/- 0.07 (P less than 0.01) without changes in single-nephron GFR. In nine other carbachol-treated rats in which renal perfusion pressure was maintained low and constant, diuresis and natriuresis, although attenuated, were again observed both in denervated (P less than 0.01) and in contralateral innervated kidneys (P less than 0.05). In another group of 11 animals, efferent renal nerve activity (ERNA) was recorded before and after LH injection of carbachol and isotonic saline. ERNA was significantly depressed for 30 min, only after carbachol injection. Our results suggest that the renal nerves, although involved, are not essential for the natriuretic response after cholinergic stimulation of LH. By exclusion, other factors, presumably hormones, must contribute to the response.