In term gestational human umbilical artery segments incubated in room air at 37 degrees, histamine, acetylcholine, bradykinin, K+, and serotonin (agonists that cause contraction) cause accumulation of guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cGMP) without altering the content of adenosine 3':5'-monosphophate (cAMP); prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), which relaxes the artery, causes cAMP accumulation without affecting the cGMP content (Clyman, R. I., Sandler, J.A., Manganiello, V.C., and Vaughan, M. (1975) J. Clin. Invest., in press). It has been postulated that Ca-2+ is important in the regulation of cyclic nucleotides in other tissues. In the umbilical artery the control of cAMP content by PGE1 was independent of Ca-2+. After incubation in Ca-2+-free medium, the c GMP contentof the artery segments was decreased by 50% and was unaffected by histamine, acetylcholine, bradykinin, and K+. Readdition of Ca-2+ (2.7 mM) or Sr-2+ (3.6 mM) to the medium partially restored the basal cGMP content and the agonist effects on the cGMP content. However, Sr-2+ was not as effective as Ca-2+ in this regard. Ionophores A23187 and X537A (agents that facilitate Ca-2+ movement through membranes) mimicked the effects of these Ca-2+-dependent agonists on cGMP content. Incubation with the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methyl xanthine (0.1 mM) increased both the basal content of cGMP and the histamine-induced accumulation 3-fold. This effect was dependent on the presence of Ca-2+ also. Accumulation of cGMP induced by serotonin, on the other hand, was not diminished in Ca-2+-depleted arteries and, in fact, seemed to be inhibited by 2.7 mM Ca-2+. These observations are consistent with the existence in the umbilical artery of two separate mechanisms for control of cGMP synthesis that are influenced differently by Ca-2+.