We recently showed that acute administration of nicotine in the rat decreases bradykinin-induced plasma extravasation and that adrenal medullary-derived epinephrine, acting at a beta 2-adrenergic receptor, mediates the nicotine effect. Since agents which decrease bradykinin-induced plasma extravasation have been associated with increased joint injury in a rat model of chronic inflammation (experimental arthritis induced by subcutaneous injection of Mycobacterium butyricum) we examined the effect of chronic nicotine on both plasma extravasation and the severity of joint injury. In normal rats, bradykinin-induced plasma extravasation was decreased after nicotine administered both by repeated injection (10(-2) mg/kg, s.c., once per h for 4 h) and by continuous long-term infusion (subcutaneous mini-osmotic pump; 1.5 x 10(-3) mg/kg per h for 30 days). Nicotine-induced inhibition of bradykinin-induced plasma extravasation did not show tachyphylaxis. In rats with arthritis, chronic administration of nicotine also produced a decrease in bradykinin-induced plasma extravasation. This effect of chronic nicotine in the arthritic rats was antagonized by co-administration of hexamethonium (a nicotinic receptor antagonist), by surgical removal of the adrenal medulla, or by co-administration of ICI-118,551 (a beta 2-adrenoceptor antagonist). Chronic administration of nicotine decreased the latency to the onset of arthritis and, in a dose-dependent manner, led to an increase in the radiographic joint injury score.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)