Central haemodynamics were studied in one group of morphine-dependent rats, and in a non-dependent control group, before and after administration of repeated bolus doses of naloxone. Dependence was induced by s.c. morphine pellet implantations. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO) and mean transit time (MTT) were measured in the conscious state, after induction of chloralose anaesthesia and after the administration of naloxone (0.005, 0.05, 0.5 and 5 mg kg-1 i.v.). Total peripheral resistance (TPR), stroke volume (SV) and central blood volume (CBV) were subsequently calculated. The haemodynamic variables did not differ significantly in the conscious state, except for a lower SV, when compared with the non-dependent control group. However, in response to anaesthesia the dependent rats exhibited a greater fall in MAP, mainly due to a TPR decrease. Naloxone elicited a marked increase in MAP in the morphine-dependent group, which was mainly caused by an increase in TPR. Naloxone induced no significant change compared with the control group in CO and CBV, while SV increased concomitantly with a lowered HR after naloxone in the morphine-dependent group. These results suggest that the withdrawal hypertension during morphine abstinence was mainly explained by an increase in TPR, reflecting an augmented tone of the resistance vessels. The minor changes in CBV indicate that the tone of the venous capacitance vessels was largely unaffected by naloxone-induced morphine abstinence.