It has been proposed that increased Na-H exchange activity is involved in the pathophysiology of genetic hypertension. We studied platelets of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY), and domestic Wistar rats (DWR), since platelets have similarities to smooth muscle cells and have been shown to have potentially related ion metabolism abnormalities, such as increased intracellular calcium activity. We determined the exchange rate by the intracellular acidification-dependent, extracellular sodium-dependent volume increase. The rate of increase during the first 3 min is linear and is shown to be higher in SHR (0.475 X min-1) than in WKY (0.410 X min-1) or DWR (0.389 X min-1). We conclude that the Na-H activity is increased in platelets of SHR. Similar findings in lymphocytes and neutrophils of SHR, and analogous findings in platelets of humans with essential hypertension, suggest that this abnormality is expressed by several cell types, some of which may be involved in the pathophysiology of genetic hypertension in both rats and humans.