The purpose of the present study was to compare the effect of chronic captopril treatment on blood pressure in young and adult spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and to assess the time course for development of hypertension after captopril withdrawal. SHR received drinking water or captopril solution from 4 weeks of age and were instrumented with radiotelemetry devices at 18 weeks of age to allow continuous monitoring of blood pressure. At 23 weeks of age, mean blood pressure in the captopril group was 100 +/- 1 mm Hg compared with 157 +/- 3 mm Hg in the water group. Pulse pressure also was significantly reduced in the captopril-treated rats. Infusion of angiotensin II into a subset of captopril-treated rats increased pulse pressure and restored blood pressure to levels of water-treated rats. Captopril treatment for 6 weeks in adult, 24-week-old SHR did not reduce blood pressure to the level of rats treated from 4 weeks of age. Ten weeks after cessation of captopril, blood pressure was 125 +/- 4 and 144 +/- 4 mm Hg in SHR treated with captopril from 4 to 30 and from 24 to 30 weeks of age, respectively, compared with control hypertensive rats with mean blood pressure of 160 +/- 6 mm Hg. Results from this radiotelemetry study confirm previous findings that captopril treatment prevents the development of hypertension and produces a persistent reduction of blood pressure after treatment in young SHR. Captopril treatment produced a persistent reduction of blood pressure after discontinuation in adult rats; however, the effect was less than that observed with captopril initiated in young rats.