Experiments were performed in anesthetized cats to compare the characteristics of angiotensin receptors in the renal and mesenteric vascular beds. Injection of either angiotensin II (Ang II; 0.3-30 ng) or angiotensin III (Ang III; 0.3-30 ng) directly into the superior mesenteric or renal artery caused dose-related, reproducible reductions in mesenteric and renal blood flow, respectively. Ang II and Ang III were equipotent as vasoconstrictors in both vascular beds. The peptide angiotensin receptor antagonists saralasin and Ile7-Ang III (1 microgram/kg/min intravenously, i.v.) and the nonpeptide angiotensin receptor antagonist DuP 753 (3 mg/kg plus 20 micrograms/kg/min i.v.) caused a rightward displacement of dose-response curves to Ang II or Ang III in both the mesenteric and renal vasculature. Vasoconstrictor responses to Ang II or Ang III in either vascular bed were blocked to similar extents by each antagonist. In separate cats, the dose of the antagonists required to cause a 10-fold rightward displacement of the Ang II dose-response curve (DR10) in both vascular beds was determined. The DR10 values indicated that the potency of each antagonist was similar in the renal and mesenteric vascular beds. These results provide no evidence to suggest that angiotensin receptors mediating vasoconstriction in the renal and mesenteric vasculature have different characteristics.