Microinjections of low doses (in the femtomolar or low picomolar range) of angiotensin II (Ang II) into the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) evoke depressor responses. In this study we have mapped in the rat the precise location of the subregion within the NTS at which Ang II evokes significant sympathoinhibitory and depressor responses. Microinjections of 1 pmol of Ang II evoked large decreases (>or=20% of baseline) in renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA), from a highly restricted region in the medial NTS, at or very close to the level 0.2 mm caudal to the obex. Microinjections of the same dose of Ang II into the commissural or lateral NTS at the same rostrocaudal level, or into the medial and lateral NTS at the level of the obex evoked significantly smaller sympathoinhibitory responses, while microinjections into more rostral or caudal levels of the NTS evoked significant sympathoinhibitory responses even less frequently. In most cases (71%), the sympathoinhibitory responses were accompanied by depressor responses, the magnitudes of which were also greater within the medial NTS at the level 0.2 mm caudal to obex, as compared to the surrounding subregions. The results demonstrate that the cardiovascular effects of Ang II in the NTS are highly site-specific. Taken together with previous studies, the results also indicate that the neurons in the NTS that mediate the Ang II-evoked sympathoinhibition are a discrete subgroup of the population of sympathoinhibitory neurons within the nucleus.