Urine volume (V), free water clearance (CH2O) and plasma concentrations of arginine vasopressin (AVP), angiotensin II (A II) and aldosterone (Aldo) were determined before and three times during the first 5 h after an oral water load of 20 ml/kg body wt in 19 patients with post-renal-transplant hypertension (group I), in 13 normotensive renal transplant recipients (group II) and in 20 control subjects (group III). Both V and CH2O increased significantly in all groups, but considerably less in groups I and II than in group III. When CH2O was related to glomerular filtration rate no differences existed between patients and control subjects. Basal AVP was the same in groups I (3.3 pmol/l, median) and II (3.0 pmol/l), but significantly (p less than 0.01) higher than in group III (1.9 pmol/l). Basal A II was significantly (p less than 0.01) elevated in group I (18 pmol/l) when compared to both groups II (10 pmol/l) and III (11 pmol/l), and the level was independent of the presence of native kidneys. Basal Aldo was the same in all groups. During loading, AVP was reduced in all groups, A II was almost unchanged, and Aldo was increased in groups I and II and reduced in group III depending on alterations in serum potassium. Thus urinary diluting ability is reduced in renal transplant recipients due to a reduced glomerular filtration rate. The enhanced A II in hypertensive renal transplant recipients gives further evidence for the point of view that hypertension is angiotensin-dependent in most of these patients.