Real function, plasma renin concentration (PRC) and prostaglandin (PG) excretion rate was studied in groups of Sprague-Dawley (SPRD) and Wistar (WIST) rats anesthetized with either Halothane-N2O or Inactin. Conscious rats were used as controls. A. In Halothane-N2O anesthesia inulin clearance (CIN) and absolute proximal reabsorption rate (APR) was moderately decreased (by about 20%), while renal plasma flow (RPF), urine flow and solute excretion remained unchanged as compared to conscious rats. There was a linear relationship between the reciprocal of the proximal occlusion time (OT) and CIN in Halothane anesthesia indicating that the proximal luminal diameter was constant and independent of CIN. B. Inactin anesthesia CIN was similarly reduced but APR was more depressed (by about 35%). RPF and solute excretion rate decreased only in SPRD rats, while urine flow was significantly reduced in both strains. 1/OT was invariant to changes in CIN indicating luminal diameter variations in proportion to CIN. Urinary PGE2-and PGF2 alpha excretion rates and PRC were moderately elevated in operated animals of both strains regardless of the anesthetics used. It is concluded that renal functional parameters in surgically prepared rats are more severely depressed by Inactin than by Halothane-N2O anesthesia. The gas anesthesia is equally well tolerated by both strains of rats.