In neutrophils of patients with essential hypertension the NADPH-dependent O2- production elicited by stimulation with f-Met-Leu-Phe is three to four fold higher in comparison with neutrophils of normotensive control subjects. Neutrophils from hypertensive patients are less responsive to priming, by non-stimulating doses of the agonist, as compared to control cells, which following this pretreatment augment superoxide anion production up to levels close to those expressed by neutrophils from hypertensive patients. No difference in NADPH oxidase activity, between neutrophils from the two groups of subjects, was observed when the rate of O2- production was evaluated in a reconstructed cell-free system containing the membrane fraction and the cytosolic cofactors. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that differences in the functional organization of the oxidase at the membrane level in neutrophils of hypertensive are responsible for the enhanced O2- production following agonist stimulation.