Experimental data in animals indicate that coronary vasoconstriction occurs following blockade of the beta-adrenergic receptors or alpha-receptors activation. The vasomotor effects of these maneuvers in man are unclear. Therefore we investigated whether and to which extent alpha-stimulation (cold pressor test: CPT) and beta-blockade (propranolol) cause coronary vasoconstriction; whether this effect involves the resistance arterioles as well as the large epicardial branches, and, within these, whether the normal and stenotic tracts are involved. Patterns in patients with effort angina were compared with those in patients with Prinzmetal angina. We studied 19 cases with classic and 15 cases with Prinzmetal angina. The systemic, pulmonary and coronary hemodynamics (pressure, flow and resistance) and the vasomotor pattern of normal and stenotic epicardial branches (quantitative angiography) were evaluated in the baseline condition, during CPT, after propranolol (5 mg iv) and during CPT repeated after propranolol. We observed that: changes of the coronary flow due to beta-blockade and to CPT are related to the variations of the myocardial oxygen consumption, induced by the inhibition and activation of adrenergic receptors and not to the concomitant vasomotor reaction of the stenotic vascular tract; beta-blockade does not affect homogeneously the lumen of the stenotic lesions in effort angina and invariably increases the lumen in the Prinzmetal form; influences of CPT, in the absence as well as in the presence of beta-receptor blockade, on the lumen diameter of both normal vessels and stenotic lesions are minimal in either form of angina.