Bolus i.v. administration of 100 micrograms/kg of E. Coli lipopolysaccharide endotoxin (LPS) to adult male Munich-Wistar rats (N = 18) resulted in a progressive fall in RBF and GFR from 6.9 +/- 0.2 SE and 1.1 +/- 0.05 ml/min to minimal values at 50 minutes of 3.8 +/- 0.4 and 0.32 +/- 0.08 (P less than 0.05), respectively, without a fall in mean arterial pressure. At 50 minutes, renal cortical generation rates of PGE2 (1075 +/- 108 pg/mg tissue), 6 keto PGF1 alpha (221 +/- 41 pg/mg), and TxB2 (106 +/- 12 pg/mg) were significantly higher than those of vehicle-treated control rats (N = 10, PGE2 = 466 +/- 107, 6 keto PGF1 alpha = 94 +/- 3, and TxB2 = 35 +/- 3 pg/mg), and morphologic examination revealed normal histology with notable absence of leukocytes and platelets. Pretreatment of a third group of nine rats with TxA2 synthetase inhibitor UK-37.248 (dazoxiben, 10 mg/kg) selectively abolished the LPS-induced rise in TxB2 (29 +/- 3 pg/mg), but not PGE2 (837 +/- 62 pg/mg) or 6 keto PGF1 alpha (179 +/- 5 pg/mg), prevented the fall in RBF at 50 minutes (6.3 +/- 0.4 ml/min), and allowed for significant preservation of GFR (0.67 +/- 0.08 ml/min).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)