Chronic administration of nadolol has been reported to reduce blood pressure either without or with a concomitant fall of renal blood flow. We therefore studied the effects of nadolol 80 mg once daily on ambulatory blood pressure, renal and systemic haemodynamics in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. Ten patients took part in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study, each phase of which lasted 4 weeks. Nadolol significantly reduced ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate, but had no effect on blood pressure variability. Cardiac output was significantly reduced by nadolol and total peripheral resistance increased but without reaching statistical significance. Despite the fall in blood pressure and cardiac output, renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate remained unchanged. The fraction of cardiac output reaching the kidneys rose significantly and renal vascular resistance was significantly reduced. Body weight, urinary sodium excretion and urine flow rate remained unchanged. We conclude that nadolol 80 mg once daily lowers ambulatory blood pressure in patients with mild to moderate hypertension without impairment of renal blood flow, indicating a redistribution of cardiac output to the kidneys. The mechanism of the renal vasodilator effect of nadolol remains to be determined.