The acute effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition on the renal function and urinary prostanoids were studied. Healthy women were studied in both sodium depletion (n = 8) and normal balance of sodium and potassium (n = 6). Each woman underwent paired renal functional explorations (by the clearance method during hypotonic polyuria and subsequent antidiuresis) in the absence and in the presence of enalapril. In both experimental conditions enalapril failed to affect urinary prostanoid excretions. Only in the presence of hyperreninemia induced by salt depletion, enalapril was effective in inducing renal tubular effects only partly consistent with a depressed activity of angiotensin-aldosterone system. Specifically, in sodium depletion enalapril treatment promoted a decreasing trend in urinary salt excretion, dependent in turn on selective stimulation of the distal tubule NaCl transport. Furthermore, plasma potassium concentration was reduced despite the concomitant decrease in urinary potassium excretion.