Substance P binding sites were characterized in brain nuclei of young (4-wk-old) and adult (16-wk-old) spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and age-matched normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) control rats by quantitative autoradiography. Young SHR presented higher affinity constants (KA) than young WKY. The changes were restricted to the locus coeruleus, the area postrema, the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, and to discrete areas located in lobes 9 and 10 of the vermis cerebelli of SHR. There were no differences in the maximal binding capacity (Bmax) except in the nucleus ambiguus where the Bmax was lower than in WKY. Conversely, the number of substance P binding sites was higher in the locus coeruleus, the nucleus tegmentalis dorsalis, the nucleus ambiguus, the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, the hypoglossal nucleus, the inferior olivary nucleus, and lobes 9 and 10 of the vermis cerebelli of adult SHR when compared with adult WKY. Our results support the hypothesis of a role for brain substance P in blood pressure regulation and in genetic hypertension in rats.