Studies were carried out in 69 patients with essential hypertension to examine the relationship between changes in plasma renin activity (PRA) and arterial pressure (BP) in response to a beta-adrenergic blocking agent, propranolol. PRA had no consistent relationship with BP during treatment, either in patients receiving propranolol alone (r = 0.12) or in those receiving a combination of diuretics and propranolol (r = 0.18). Furthermore, long-term beta-adrenergic blockade failed to inhibit increases of PRA induced by diuretics or rapid sodium depletion. These results indicate that (1) beta-adrenergic blockade can reduce BP by mechanisms other than PRA suppression; and (2) the beta-adrenergic nervous system is important, but not essential, for renin release.