Modification of dietary fatty acid (FA) has been shown to affect the incidence of hypertension and coronary artery disease. We studied whether these effects involve changes in the receptor characteristics of vasoactive substance. Characteristics of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) receptors were examined in glomeruli isolated from rats fed a diet containing 5% in weight omega 6, 5% omega 3, 20% omega 6, 20% omega 3 polyunsaturated FA or 20% saturated FA (SFA) for greater than 4 weeks. The FA composition of phospholipids in isolated glomeruli showed an elevation in 20:4 omega 6 (arachidonic acid, AA) in 5% omega 6, 20% omega 6 and 20% SFA, and elevations in 20:5 omega 3 (eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA) in 5% omega 3 and 20% omega 3 groups. The radioligand binding study revealed: (1) in 20% FA group, receptor density (Ro, fmol/mg prot) of ANP was significantly decreased compared to 5% group (262 +/- 13, n = 8 to 120 +/- 13, n = 12) without changes in equilibrium dissociation constant (KD), (2) among high FA (20%) groups, type of FA was essential for determining Ro; higher omega 6 was associated with a lower ANP Ro (177 +/- 11 vs. 103 +/- 3 fmol/mg prot, P less than 0.05) and KD (0.43 +/- .04 vs. 0.27 +/- .02 nM, P less than 0.05). To examine whether the alteration in receptor characteristics is mediated by FA, effects of FA were examined in vitro. In cultured mesangial cells, AA, but not EPA, decreased Ro of ANP receptors (48.7 +/- 4.8% of control, P less than 0.05) without affecting KD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)