Pressor responses and heart rate responses were recorded in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats during intravenous infusions of arginine vasopressin and phenylephrine under two experimental situations, first when cardiovascular reflexes were impaired by pretreatment with a ganglionic blocking agent (pentolinium) and second, when reflexes remained intact. In rats with ganglia blocked, pressor responses of SHR to vasopressin or to phenylephrine were similar to those of WKY rats. In rats with intact reflexes, pressor responses of SHR to phenylephrine were also similar to those of WKY rats but, in contrast, pressor responses of SHR to vasopressin were enhanced. Heart rate fell much more for any given elevation of blood pressure in WKY rats than in SHR during infusions of vasopressin and phenylephrine, and the bradycardia associated with these pressor agents was largely abolished by pentolinium. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that baroreflexes buffer the pressor activity of vasopressin in the normotensive WKY rat and that an impairment of baroreflex activity in SHR contributes to the enhanced pressor activity of vasopressin in these rats.