The effects of rat atrial tissue extract on renal hemodynamics and fluid and electrolyte excretion were investigated in the isolated perfused rat kidney (IK). IK were perfused at a constant effective perfusion pressure of about 90 mmHg. After control clearance periods (C), extracts of rat atria (AE) or ventricles (VE) were added to the perfusate and three 10-min experimental periods followed. AE, but not VE, significantly increased (P less than 0.001) renal vascular resistance (RVR) to 133 +/- 8% of C, GFR to 201 +/- 34%, filtration fraction to 245 +/- 41%, urine flow (V) to 675 +/- 131%, fractional excretion (FE) of H2O to 336 +/- 29%, absolute Na excretion (UNaV) to 1,259 +/- 290%, FENa to 642 +/- 129%, UKV to 2,226 +/- 1,237%, and FEK to 542 +/- 119%. Despite the marked natriuresis, since GFR doubled, Na reabsorption rose from 78.3 +/- 36.3 in C to 132 +/- 36.3 mueq/min after AE. The effects of AE were immediate and lasted to the end of the perfusion. The lower the initial control GFR, the larger was the AE-induced increase in GFR. Perfusion with low [Ca] (0.2 mM) or verapamil (10(-5) M) severely blunted the hemodynamic, diuretic, kaliuretic, and natriuretic effects of AE. AE decreased rather than increased the RVR when IK were perfused with vasoconstrictors such as angiotensin II, norepinephrine, or vasopressin. The results demonstrate that AE acts directly on the kidney, eliciting powerful Ca-dependent hemodynamic and natriuretic responses. The natriuresis induced by AE can be accounted for, at least in part, by its renal hemodynamic effects rather than by the presence of a putative tubular natriuretic factor. The hypothesis is advanced that AE contains a substance(s) which behaves as a functional agonist/antagonist of endogenous vasoconstrictors with a preferential site of action on the efferent arterioles of the renal vasculature.