The present study examined the role of the A5 catecholamine-containing cell group in descending modulation of the nociceptive tail-flick (TF) reflex and regulation of blood pressure and heart rate in rats lightly anesthetized with pentobarbital. Systematic mapping studies throughout the A5 cell group, rostral to caudal, showed that electrical stimulation in and near the A5 cell group at intensities as low as 25 microA was sufficient to inhibit the tail-flick (TF) reflex without producing a significant pressor response. Microinjections of glutamate into the same sites to selectively activate cell bodies also produced inhibition of the TF reflex and were accompanied by significant decreases in blood pressure (mean, -23 +/- 4.7 mmHg, n = 21) and non-significant decreases in heart rate (-7.6 +/- 11 bpm). Intrathecal administration of the receptor antagonists phentolamine, yohimbine, prazosin, methysergide, naloxone or atropine revealed that descending inhibition from the A5 cell group produced by electrical stimulation is mediated in part by spinal opioid and alpha-adrenoceptors. Increases in stimulation thresholds in the A5 cell group for inhibition of the TF reflex of 28.3 and 24.1% were produced by intrathecal pretreatment with phentolamine and naloxone, respectively. None of the other receptor antagonists produced significant increases in stimulation thresholds in the A5 cell group for inhibition of the TF reflex. Resting blood pressure and heart rate were not affected by the receptor antagonists.