Secretory components of the adrenal medulla were compared in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats and in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) at both 4 and 12 months of age. Noradrenaline, adrenaline, dopamine, neuropeptide Y, and chromogranins A and B were significantly higher in adrenal glands of SHRSP than those of WKY rats at 4 months. At 12 months, the levels of these components in SHRSP had increased even more (about 200% in WKY rats). There was no change in the relative composition of the adrenal "secretory cocktail." Neither the chromogranin A/chromogranin B ratio nor their apparent proteolytic processing in chromaffin granules differed between SHRSP or WKY rats. The lack of a significant change in membrane-bound cytochrome b561 and the small increase in dopamine beta-hydroxylase suggest that the higher levels of secretory components in SHRSP are not simply caused by an increase in the number of chromaffin granules, but possibly by a selective increase in the secretory content of these organelles providing a larger package for quantal release by exocytosis. This may be relevant for the elevation of blood pressure in this strain. The immunological methods described in this paper allow for the first time a determination of the secretory quantal levels in catecholamine storage. This should be useful for further studies in hypertensive models.