The inaugural lecture of the Academic Year 1986-1987 of the Catalan Society of Pharmacology was imparted by Prof. Patrick du Souich, from the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Montreal, under the title Factors influencing the diuretic response in experimentation animals and in man. The meeting was held at the Academy of Medical Sciences of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands on October 14, 1986.