The present studies examine the effect of gonadal hormones on the development of hypertension in Dahl salt-sensitive rats fed a high salt diet. In the first study, administration of estradiol benzoate did not prevent hypertension in either adult ovariectomized females or intact males. In a second study, neonatal castration of males slowed the onset of salt-induced hypertension, and females that were treated neonatally with testosterone developed somewhat higher pressures that did untreated females. These data extend to Dahl S rats the findings observed originally in spontaneously hypertensive rats that blood pressure is modulated by gonadal hormones. These results are consistent with the conclusion that gonadal hormones may exert organizational effects on cardiovascular control regions of the brain during early postnatal development in rats.