The importance of central adrenergic neurones in renal hypertension in rabbits.

1. Central nervous system adrenergic neurones were partially destroyed by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHD) into the cisterna magna of normal rabbits and of rabbits with renal hypertension produced by bilateral wrapping of the kidneys with cellophane.2. Six weeks after renal manipulation, the mean arterial pressure of control animals was 122.1 +/- 2.4 mmHg while the pressure of rabbits which had been pre-treated with intracisternal 6-OHD was only 100.0 +/- 4.3 mmHg.3. Partial destruction of central adrenergic neurones by injection of 6-OHD into the cisterna magna produced a sustained lowering of arterial pressure in rabbits with established renal hypertension, whether this hypertension had been short (6 weeks) or of long duration (18 weeks).4. Adrenergic neurones in the central nervous system play a role in the development and maintenance of the raised arterial pressure in rabbits with renal hypertension.