Stroke prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) were less susceptible to stress in gastric lesions than Wistar-Kyoto rats used as normotensive controls. The gastric lesions induced by water-immersion restraint (WIR) in SHRSP were aggravated by pretreatment with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), an agent for chemical sympathectomy, following decreases in blood pressure and sympathetic nerve function. 6-OHDA treatment remarkably reduced norepinephrine content but caused increases in dopamine content and in choline acetyltransferase activity in the stomach. The mechanism of aggravation of gastric lesions in SHRSP was investigated with regard to gastric acid and motility. The pretreatment with 6-OHDA of SHRSP significantly increased the acid secretion stimulated by 2-deoxy-D-glucose indirectly acting on parietal cells via the vagus nerve, but did not change the acid secretions stimulated by carbachol, pentagastrin and histamine acting directly on parietal cells. Gastric (corpus) motility associated with WIR was completely blocked by atropine. The pretreatment with 6-OHDA in SHRSP decreased the gastric motility during WIR, which was facilitated by treatment with domperidone. These results indicate that the sympathetic hyperactivity of the stomach prevents WIR-induced gastric lesion formation mainly via the inhibition of gastric acid secretion.