Pressor responsiveness to angiotensin in renovascular and steroid hypertension.

1. The pressor response to angiotensin II was reduced in rats with early (less than 6 weeks) and chronic (greater than 4 months) Goldblatt two-kidney, one-clip hypertension and enhanced in DOCA-salt hypertension. 2. Converting enzyme inhibition with captopril brought the angiotensin pressor response curves into closer proximity although the DOCA hypertensive rats were minimally hyper-responsive and rats with early and chronic renovascular hypertension showed slightly reduced responsiveness. 3. After bilateral nephrectomy the pressor responses to angiotensin were similar. 4. The pressor response to angiotensin II in these animals was inversely related to plasma renin concentration and therefore largely dependent upon receptor occupancy by endogenous angiotensin II. There is no evidence for enhanced pressor responsiveness to angiotensin in either renovascular or DOCA hypertension.