The present study was designed to investigate in rats the influence of converting enzyme inhibition with captopril on blood pressure, plasma urea, plasma renin concentration (PRC), plasma aldosterone and plasma vasopressin, and to define the interrelationships between PRC and these variables during equal degrees of either hyponatraemic (furosemide, 40 mg/kg for 2 days) or hypernatraemic (48-h water deprivation) dehydration. Chronic treatment with captopril (40 mg/kg daily) decreased blood pressure by 19% in normally hydrated treated rats, by 27% in water-deprived treated rats and by 40% in furosemide-treated rats. Plasma renin concentration, plasma aldosterone and plasma vasopressin were increased during both hypo- and hypernatraemic dehydration. Captopril decreased plasma aldosterone in waterdeprived and furosemide-treated rats, whereas plasma vasopressin was unchanged. The significant correlation observed between plasma aldosterone and PRC in non-treated rats persisted in treated rats, the same level of plasma aldosterone being observed at values of PRC 10 times higher. On the other hand, the correlation between plasma vasopressin and PRC did not persist in captopril-treated rats. An increase in plasma urea was observed in both water-deprived treated rats and furosemide-treated rats. These data indicate that during hypo- and hypernatraemic dehydration, the renin-angiotensin system plays a role in regulating blood pressure, urea elimination and plasma aldosterone, but vasopressin regulation is not modified by its inhibition.