The purpose of the present study was to address whether the in vivo noradrenergic neural activities in the locus coeruleus are related to the development of hypertension. Two groups of the animals were prepared, 1) young SHR and 2) age-matched normotensive control, WKY. At the age of 6 weeks, blood pressure and the releases of NE and DOPEG from the locus coeruleus in young SHR and WKY were measured by in vivo microdialysis at two different conditions; 1) normal and 2) elevated state of blood pressure by systemically injected phenylephrine. Basal releases of NE and DOPEG from the locus coeruleus were 0.415 ±0.089 pg/20 min and 1.311 ±0.293 pg/20 min in SHR and 0.204±0.078 pg/20 min and 1.492 ±0.365 pg/20 min in WKY. The basal release of NE of SHR was significantly greater than that of WKY. Phenylephrine treatment caused elevation of blood pressure in both SHR and WKY in dose-dependent manner. Following phenylephrine injection, the releases of NE and DOPEG from the locus coeruleus of SHR were significantly decreased, whereas there was no significant changes of NE in WKY. The results from the present study suggests that the noradrenergic nervous system in the locus coeruleus may contribute as one of the triggering factors for the expression of hypertension in young SHR.