Cerebral glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) activity in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats showed a significant increase in the mesencephalon and a significant decrease in the cerebral cortex and in the cerebellum, compared to that observed in mononephrectomized normotensive animals. Intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of muscimol (0.5, 1 and 2 micrograms), a GABA receptor agonist, produced a dose-dependent decrease in heart rate (HR), significantly greater in freely moving hypertensive animals than in normotensive controls. Muscimol also reduced mean arterial pressure (MAP). The hypotensive effect induced by muscimol (2 micrograms) was significantly higher in hypertensive animals. Ethanolamine-O-sulphate (5, 10, 20 and 40 microM), an inhibitor of GABA breakdown, determined a decrease in MAP and in HR greater in hypertensive than in normotensive rats. Intraperitoneal injection of valproic acid (50-100 mg/Kg/die) for 6 weeks significantly reduced the development of DOCA-salt hypertension in rats. The anti-hypertensive effect became significant during the 4th week and was dose-dependent. DOCA-salt animals, daily treated with 50 mg/Kg of valproic acid, showed an increased pressor response to intravenous injection of phenylephrine (0.1, 0.5 and 1 microgram/Kg). Data strongly support an impairment of cerebral GABA control of blood pressure and heart rate in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats.