Abstract-This study examined whether chronic blockade of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and/or 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) formation promotes development of salt-sensitive hypertension. Changes in blood pressure, renal cytochrome P450 metabolism of arachidonic acid, and 20-HETE excretion in response to a high salt diet were measured in rats chronically treated with 1-aminobenzotriazole (ABT, 50 mg/kg per day) to block EETs and 20-HETE formation or N-hydroxy-NЈ-(4-butyl-2 methylphenyl) formamidine (HET0016, 10 mg/kg per day) that selectively reduces 20-HETE formation. ABT reduced blood pressure in rats fed a low salt (0.4% NaCl) diet, but blood pressure rose by 20 mm Hg after these rats were switched to a high salt (8% NaCl) diet for 10 days. HET0016 had no effect on blood pressure in rats fed a low salt diet; however, blood pressure rose by 18 mm Hg after the rats were fed a high salt diet. 20-HETE formation in kidney homogenates rose by 30% and epoxygenase activity doubled when rats were fed a high salt diet. Chronic treatment with ABT and HET0016 inhibited the renal formation of 20-HETE by Ϸ90%. Renal epoxygenase activity decreased by 76% in ABT-treated rats and was not significantly altered in rats treated with HET0016. 20-HETE excretion rose from 470Ϯ21 to 570Ϯ41 ng/d when the rats were switched from the low to the high salt diet. 20-HETE excretion fell by 68% and 85% in rats that were chronically treated with ABT and HET0016. These results suggest that chronic blockade of the formation of 20-HETE promotes the development of salt-sensitive hypertension in rats. Key Words: rats, Dahl Ⅲ metabolism Ⅲ arachidonic acids Ⅲ blood pressure Ⅲ hypertension, sodium-dependent T he role of the cytochrome P450 (P450) metabolites of arachidonic acid (AA) in the development and maintenance of hypertension remains uncertain in part because this pathway has both prohypertensive and antihypertensive actions. 1 20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) inhibits Na ϩ transport in the proximal tubule and thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle (TALH), 2-5 and compounds that induce the renal formation of 20-HETE lower blood pressure in Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) rats. 1 Similarly, epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) inhibit Na ϩ transport in the proximal tubule and collecting duct, 6,7 and increasing the renal levels of EETs with inhibitors of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) reduces blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) 8 and angiotensin II-induced hypertensive rats. 9 However, 20-HETE is also a potent vasoconstrictor, 1 and many investigators have reported that blocking the vascular effects of 20-HETE may contribute to its antihypertensive effect in SHR and other experimental models of hypertension. 10,11 Part of the problem in defining the role of the P450 metabolites of AA in the control of blood pressure has been the lack of selective inhibitors of the pathway that chronically block the formation of 20-HETE and EETs in vivo. Inhibitors that are commonly used to inhibit the formation of EETs and ...