Renal tubular reabsorption of phosphate was studied in unanesthetized spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY). Three-hour-urinary phosphate excretions of 12-week-old-male SHR (53.0 +/- 13.1 micrograms/mg creatinine, N = 7) and 14-week-old female SHR (81.8 +/- 12.8, N = 8) were significantly lower than those of age sex-matched WKY (12 week, 435.8 +/- 73.2, N = 8, P less than 0.01; 14 week, 423.3 +/- 75.9, N = 8, P less than 0.01). Renal clearances were performed in 14-week-old female rats after an overnight fast. The serum phosphate concentration of SHR (4.61 +/- 0.25 mg/dl) was lower than that of WKY (5.44 +/- 0.14, P less than 0.02). Urinary phosphate excretion (U Pi V = 6.85 +/- 1.83 micrograms/min) and fractional phosphate excretion (FE Pi = 13.7 +/- 2.3%) of SHR were lower than those of WKY (U Pi V = 15.9 +/- 1.87 micrograms/min, P less than 0.01, FE Pi 22.8 +/- 2.6%, P less than 0.02). Acute hyperventilation could not account for the lower excretion of phosphate in SHR, since arterial pH and PCO2 were not different between WKY and SHR. The low renal phosphate clearance of SHR was noted at a very early age; the U Pi V of 5-week-old SHR was already lower than that of WKY. Maximum tubular phosphate reabsorption (TmPi) was studied in the 12-week-old SHR and WKY after acute thyroparathyroidectomy. TmPi of SHR (241 +/- 3.0 micrograms/ml GFR/100 g, N = 7) was greater than that of WKY (204 +/- 7.0, N = 8, P less than 0.01). However, the differences in 3-hr urinary phosphate excretion and clearances of phosphate were abolished between SHR and WKY after their blood pressures were lowered by chronic hydralazine treatment. The results indicate that hypertension is responsible for the lower renal phosphate clearances in SHR.