The hemodynamic changes observed in patients with the "hyperkinetic" form of borderline (labile) essential hypertension (BEH) could be related to the hyperresponsiveness of cardiac beta-adrenergic receptors to catecholamines. The isoproterenol-induced increase in plasma cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cAMP) reflects the response of adenylate cyclase to beta-adrenergic stimulation, whereas a non-beta-receptor-mediated increase occurs with the administration of glucagon. Both substances were infused into 13 control subjects and 14 patients with the hyperkinetic form of BEH before and after propranolol administration. Baseline plasma cAMP concentrations were comparable in both groups. After 30 minutes of isoproterenol infusion (20 ng/kg per min) a significantly higher increase in plasma cAMP and heart rate and a smaller decrease in diastolic blood pressure were seen in this type of BEH than in control subjects. The increase in plasma cAMP and in heart rate correlated positively when all subjects were considered together. Propranolol abolished hemodynamic and humoral responses to a similar degree in both groups. The plasma cAMP responses to glucagon (200 ng/kg per min) were slightly lower in our patients with BEH than in control subjects and were not suppressed by propranolol. The data are compatible with a hyperreactivity of the beta-adrenergic receptors or of the adenylate cyclase or both in hyperkinetic BEH and could correspond to the previously observed exaggerated beta-adrenergic drive to the heart in this type of hypertension. The non-beta-receptor-mediated rise in plasma cAMP (glucagon), however, remains comparable in control subjects and BEH.