Previous studies implicated the ventral median preoptic nucleus (MNPOv) in cardiovascular responses to circulating and intracerebroventricular angiotensin II (ANG II) and in normal cardiovascular and fluid homoeostasis. In the present experiments, chronically catheterized rats received continuous (24 h/day) intravenous infusions of ANG II (10 ng/min) for 5 days, and changes in mean arterial pressure, heart rate, water intake and urinary electrolyte and water excretion were determined daily. Three groups of rats were compared as follows: 1) sham-operated control rats (n = 12), 2) rats with 20-70% of the MNPOv ablated electrolytically (n = 6), and 3) rats with over 90% of the MNPOv ablated (n = 5). The organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis was intact in all three groups. Base-line values of all measured variables were identical in the three groups on two control days preceding ANG II infusion and on two recovery days after infusion. During the administration of ANG II for 5 days, mean arterial pressure rose significantly (and similarly) in all three groups of rats; no other variable was significantly affected by ANG II infusion. These results suggest that neural pathways originating in, or passing through, the MNPOv region are not critical in the pathogenesis of ANG II-induced hypertension in the rat.