It has been previously shown in anesthetized pigs that intravenous infusion of 2 microg/h of 17beta-estradiol primarily dilated renal, iliac and coronary circulations, while higher doses of the hormone were required to cause vasodilation also in the mesenteric vascular bed. In the same experimental model, a tonic beta2-adrenoceptor mediated vasodilation, which could be argued to attenuate the vasodilator effect of 17beta-estradiol, has been described. The present study was planned to investigate the role of beta2-adrenergic receptors in the hemodynamic responses of renal and mesenteric vascular beds to 17beta-estradiol. Changes in flow caused by intravenous infusion of 2 microg/h of the hormone at constant heart rate and aortic blood pressure in the left renal and superior mesenteric arteries were assessed using electromagnetic flowmeters. In six pigs, infusion of 17beta-estradiol caused an increase in renal blood flow, which averaged 12.1% of the control values, without affecting mesenteric blood flow. In the same pigs, after hemodynamic variables had returned to the baseline values, blockade of beta2-adrenergic receptors with butoxamine caused an increase in aortic blood pressure and an increase in renal and mesenteric resistance. The subsequent infusion of 17beta-estradiol elicited increases in renal and mesenteric blood flow which respectively averaged 19.6% and 12.8%. Therefore, the present study in anesthetized pigs have shown that the vasodilator responses of the renal and mesenteric circulations to 17beta-estradiol were attenuated and even masked by a tonic beta2-adrenoceptor mediated vasodilation. This indicates that some vasodilator effects elicited by normally used replacement doses of the hormone may not be apparent.