The mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) cDNA we previously isolated from the rat hippocampus differs from the clone isolated from the kidney at the 5'-untranslated (5'UT) region. The kidney clone (alpha MR mRNA) and the hippocampal clone (beta MR mRNA) possess unique 5'UT sequences of 220 and 300 nucleotides, respectively, but share an invariant peptide-coding domain and appear to encode an identical MR protein. The two mRNA variants may represent tissue-specific forms of the MR or may be coexpressed in the rat hippocampus along with other 5'UT variants. Here, we report that three mRNA subtypes were found in the hippocampus; their relative abundance was as follows: alpha = beta >> gamma. The three mRNA variants were differentially distributed within the hippocampal subfields, with the alpha form being highly enriched in CA2, dentate, the fasciculum cinereum, and the indusium griseum, whereas beta and gamma forms were evenly distributed through CA1-4. Adrenalectomy selectively increased alpha MR mRNA content, but the changes were restricted to CA1, CA2, and CA3 regions. We conclude that multiple MR mRNAs are differentially expressed in the rat hippocampus. The expression of alpha MR mRNA is specifically increased during adrenalectomy, suggesting that the increase in total MR mRNA content documented previously arises from a substantial increase in a single MR variant that elevates the total MR mRNA content, with the apparent elevation reflecting the average of regulated and unregulated transcripts. It is suggested from our data that a complex mechanism involving transcription and translation regulates MR expression in the rat hippocampus.