1 In vascular smooth muscle, a,-adrenoceptors have been classified recently into two or three subtypes. We examined which xl-adrenoceptor subtypes are involved in the noradrenaline-induced contraction of rat portal vein smooth muscle.2 Binding studies with [3H]-prazosin in membranes from equine portal vein smooth muscle revealed the presence of two distinct affinity binding sites. The high-affinity site for [3H]-prazosin was also identified in intact strips of rat portal vein. Prazosin, HV723 (o-ethyl-3,4,5-trimethoxy-a-(3-((2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)ethyl)-amino)-propyl) benzene-acetonitrile fumarate), WB4101 (2-(2,6-dimethoxyphenoxyethyl)aminomethyl-1,4-benzodioxane), 5-methylurapidil, phentolamine and yohimbine antagonized[3H]-prazosin binding at both types of sites. Pretreatment with 50 jAM chloroethylclonidine (CEC) eliminated the high-affinity sites for prazosin but had no effect on the low-affinity sites. 3 Noradrenaline produced a concentration-dependent contraction in the rat portal vein. Pretreatment with 50 JAM CEC induced a slight rightward displacement of the concentration-response curve but the maximal contraction was not significantly affected suggesting that the CEC-sensitive xl-adrenoceptors played a minor role in the noradrenaline-induced contraction. Prazosin, WB4101 and HV723 produced a concentration-dependent inhibition of noradrenaline-induced contractions. The inhibition curves were little affected by CEC-pretreatment and yielded a relative order of potency of WB4101 > prazosin > HV723. 4 In the presence of 0.1 jAM isradipine to block voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, the noradrenalineinduced contraction is due to release of Ca2+ ions from agonist-sensitive intracellular Ca2+ stores. Under these conditions, the noradrenaline-induced contraction was not significantly affected by pretreatment with 50 JAM CEC but was inhibited by the antagonists mentioned above with affinities different from those in the absence of isradipine. The rank order of potency became HV723 > WB4101 > prazosin. 5 The present results indicate the existence of two distinct o1-adrenoceptor subtypes in rat portal vein smooth muscle, which show high-and low-affinities respectively for each of prazosin, WB4101 and HV723 and correspond to alH-and 'XlL-adrenoceptor subtypes. According to recent a,-adrenoceptor subclassifications, the alH-adrenoceptor subtype which is sensitive to inactivation by CEC may correspond to the MtB-adrenoceptor subtype. The contraction induced by noradrenaline seems to be predominantly mediated through the alL-adrenoceptor subtypes which may include the MIN-adrenoceptor subtype, as recently proposed.