Experiments were performed in Sprague-Dawley rats in order to distinguish between sodium chloride and total solute concentration as possible luminal signals capable of eliciting tubuloglomerular feedback responses. Early proximal flow rate (VEP), an index of nephron filtration rate, was measured without perfusion of the loop of Henle and during retrograde perfusion with solutions containing 20, 35, 60 to 100 mM NaCl and varying amounts of either urea or mannitol to achieve total solute concentrations of 130, 280, or 400 mosM. Perfusion flow rate was kept constant at 20 nl/min. Perfusion with a solution containing 20 mM NaCl and made hypo-, iso-, or hypertonic with urea or mannitol caused little or no change in VEP. Perfusion with a 35 mM NaCl solution made hypo-, iso-, or hypertonic with mannitol resulted in a fall of VEP of 6-7 nl/min. When NaCl concentration was 60 mM, VEP fell by 10-14 nl/min with solutions made hypo-, iso-, or hypertonic with urea or mannitol. With 100 mM NaCl solutions made hypo-, iso-, or hypertonic with mannitol, VEP fell approximately 12 nl/min. These results indicate that feedback responses are determined by the NaCl concentration of the perfusate and that this NaCl dependency is not modified by varying perfusate osmolarity between 130 and 400 mosM with urea or mannitol as osmotic agents.