This study was designed to assess the contribution of thromboxane A2 to high blood pressure in rats with angiotensin II (Ang II)-salt hypertension. Hypertension was induced in rats drinking 0.15 M NaCl by infusion of Ang II (125 ng/min i.p.) for 12 days. Relative to values in water-drinking rats without Ang II infusion, Ang II-salt hypertensive rats exhibited augmentation (p less than 0.05) of blood pressure (from 129 +/- 3 to 217 +/- 12 mm Hg), urinary thromboxane B2 excretion (from 5.4 +/- 0.9 to 25.4 +/- 2.1 ng/day), and thromboxane B2 release from renal cortex slices (from 71.3 +/- 6.7 to 121.1 +/- 14.4 pg/mg) and aortic rings (from 28.8 +/- 2.9 to 115.8 +/- 12.8 pg/mg). Treatment with an inhibitor of thromboxane A2 synthetase, UK 38485, had no effect on blood pressure in normotensive and Ang II-salt hypertensive rats. Treatment with a thromboxane A2 receptor blocker, SQ 29548, decreased blood pressure in Ang II-salt hypertensive rats from 191 +/- 9 to 152 +/- 9 mm Hg after 3 hours, but it had no effect on blood pressure in normotensive rats. Since SQ 29548 interfered with the pressor effects of the prostaglandin endoperoxide analogue U-46619, prostaglandin F2 alpha, and 9 alpha,11 beta-prostaglandin F2, we suggest that the SQ 29548-induced blood pressure reduction in Ang II-salt hypertensive rats is the manifestation of blockade of the vascular actions of one or more endogenous prostanoids including thromboxane A2 and prostaglandin endoperoxides. If so, pressor prostanoids may be contributory factors in the pathogenesis of severe Ang II-salt hypertension in rats.