1. It has recently been suggested that therapy with beta-adrenoceptor blockers reduces peripheral arterial resistance via enhanced vascular dilatation. Therefore, we studied the effects of celiprolol, which is a specific beta 1-antagonist that has a weak beta 2-agonist action, on arterial tone in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. 2. Two doses of celiprolol (5 and 50 mg kg-1 day-1) were administered to the SHR, while the WKY rats received only the higher dose of the drug. During the 12-week treatment period the higher dose attenuated the increase in blood pressure by approximately 20 mmHg in SHR, whereas the lower dose was without significant antihypertensive effect. Celiprolol therapy did not affect blood pressure in the normotensive WKY rats. 3. Responses of mesenteric arterial rings in vitro were examined at the end of the study. Interestingly, endothelium-mediated relaxations of noradrenaline (NA)-precontracted rings to acetylcholine (ACh) in the absence and presence of the cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, diclofenac, were equally enhanced in both celiprolol-treated SHR groups. The nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) practically abolished the relaxations to ACh in all SHR irrespective of whether they had received celiprolol, whereas in WKY rats L-NAME only attenuated the responses to ACh. However, no differences were found between the SHR groups in relaxations to ACh when hyperpolarization of smooth muscle was prevented by precontractions induced by 50 mM KCl. Vasorelaxation of NA-precontracted rings to the exogenous nitric oxide donor, nitroprusside, was also moderately augmented in both celiprolol-treated SHR groups, while the relaxation to beta-adrenoceptor agonist, isoprenaline, remained equally impaired in all SHR whether or not they had received celiprolol. No differences were observed between the two WKY groups in the responses to ACh, nitroprusside or isoprenaline. 4. Contractile sensitivity of mesenteric arterial rings to the receptor-mediated agonists, NA and 5-hydroxytryptamine, was comparable in all study groups. 5. In conclusion, SHR treatment with either the low or the higher dose of celiprolol was accompanied by enhancement of both endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent nitric oxide-mediated arterial relaxation, possibly via a hyperpolarization mechanism. Interestingly, this effect appeared to be independent of the reduction in blood pressure.