The inhibitory effect of nitroglycerin (NG) on contractile responses to methoxamine (MO) and clonidine (CL) was investigated in isolated rabbit renal and femoral arteries. NG (10(-7)-10(-5) mol/l) inhibited the responses to MO and CL in a noncompetitive manner and its inhibitory effect on CL-responses was much greater than that on the MO-responses. In the presence of phenoxybenzamine, however, NG (10(-5) mol/l) markedly inhibited the residual response to MO. Contractile responses to KCl or added Ca2+ in a Ca2+-free medium containing KCl were slightly inhibited by NG. In the presence of nifedipine, NG (10(-5) mol/l) markedly inhibited residual responses to CL but it only slightly inhibited the response to MO. In a Ca2+-free medium with EGTA, MO (10(-5) mol/l) or CL (10(-5) mol/l) induced a phasic contraction. NG had a greater inhibitory effect on the response to CL than MO. In a Ca2+-free medium with EGTA, nifedipine and MO (10(-5) mol/l) or CL (10(-5) mol/l), Ca2+ induced a tonic contraction. NG inhibited the Ca2+-response in the presence of CL, but it had little or no effect on the Ca2+-response in the presence of MO. These results suggest that in rabbit renal and femoral arteries, the potent inhibitory effect of NG on the responses to CL as compared to MO may be due to differences in the amount of receptor reserves that exist for both the agonists. In addition, the inhibition of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels may not play a major role in the vasoinhibitory action of NG. Further, NG inhibits contractile responses due to mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ much more than the responses due to receptor-activated, nifedipine-insensitive Ca2+-movement.