1 The vasoactive eects of bradykinin (BK) are mediated by dierent subtypes of kinin receptors, of which the expression varies among dierent tissues. In rat tail artery tissues, BK elicited a concentrationdependent vasoconstriction (EC50, 25.9+2.4 nM; Emax, 0.39+0.01 g; n=16). This eect of BK was endothelium independent and indomethacin insensitive. The BK-induced contraction of tail artery tissues, however, depended on both membrane potential-sensitive extracellular Ca 2+ entry and thapsigargin-sensitive intracellular Ca 2+ release. 2 Kinin B 1 receptor antagonist or agonist did not aect the basal tension or the BK-induced contraction of tail artery tissues in the absence or presence of endothelium (P40.05). In contrast, the BK-induced vasoconstriction was inhibited by kinin B 2 receptor antagonists. Pretreatment of vascular tissues with Hoe 140 (1 nM) signi®cantly changed EC50 of the BK-induced vasoconstriction from 25.5+7.4 nM to 82.6+16.8 nM (n=8, P50.01) and Emax from 0.43+0.03 g to 0.16+0.01 g (n=8, P50.01). 3 In the tail artery tissues from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, the BK-elicited vasoconstriction was signi®cantly reduced (EC50, 67.8+11 nM; Emax, 0.19+0.01 g) compared to their counterparts from normal rats. The decreased vasoconstrictive eects of BK on diabetic arteries were endothelium independent and indomethacin insensitive. 4 Our study demonstrated that the contraction of rat tail arteries induced by BK was mediated by B 2 receptors located on vascular smooth muscles. The altered B 2 receptor-mediated vascular activity may play an important role in the vascular complications of diabetes.