Sensitivity and resistance to the effects of sodium were evaluated in normotensive and hypertensive humans by two approaches. Blood pressure was measured after an intravenous infusion of 2 L of normal (0.9%) saline and after sodium and volume depletion induced by a low sodium diet and furosemide administration in 378 normal volunteers and 198 subjects with essential hypertension. Those in whom mean arterial blood pressure decreased by at least 10 mm Hg after sodium and volume depletion were considered sodium-sensitive, and those with a decrease of 5 mm Hg or less (including an increase in pressure) were considered sodium-resistant. The second study utilized the blood pressure response to modest dietary sodium restriction in 74 normotensive subjects to identify sodium sensitivity and resistance. In both studies the responses were heterogeneous. In the first study significantly more hypertensive subjects were sodium-sensitive, as compared with those in the normotensive group (p less than 0.001). Plasma renin activity (low, normal, or high) did not predict sodium responses. In both groups sodium-sensitive individuals were significantly older (p less than 0.001) and had lower baseline renin values than sodium-resistant subjects. Factors related to the change in mean arterial blood pressure after sodium and volume depletion included baseline pressure (r = -0.54, p less than 0.001) and age (r = -0.16, p = 0.002 in the normotensive group; r = -0.28, p less than 0.001 in the hypertensive group). The response to dietary sodium restriction was also correlated with baseline pressure (r = 0.61, p less than 0.001) and the initial urinary sodium excretion (r = 0.27, p less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)