Both the inhibition of renin release by sodium chloride and salt-sensitive hypertension have been attributed to sodium. We evaluated the contribution of chloride to these responses to sodium chloride. In the Sprague-Dawley rat, acute and chronic administration of sodium salts other than sodium chloride failed to suppress plasma renin activity, whereas renin was inhibited by both sodium chloride and by selective chloride (without sodium) loading. Plasma renin activity was stimulated by selective chloride depletion. Similarly, in humans, plasma renin activity was suppressed by sodium chloride but not by sodium bicarbonate infusion. In a preliminary study in the Dahl salt-sensitive rat, in contrast to sodium chloride loading, sodium bicarbonate loading failed to produce hypertension. Thus, both the renin and possibly the blood pressure responses to sodium chloride are dependent on chloride.