The antihypertensive effects of (+-)-(cyclohexyloxycarbonyloxy)ethyl2-ethoxy-1-[[2'-(1H- tetrazol-5- yl)biphenyl-4-yl]methyl]-1-H-benzimidazole-7-carboxylate (TCV-116), an angiotensin II (AII) subtype-1 receptor antagonist, were studied in various hypertensive and normotensive rats, using 2-n-butyl-4-chloro-5-hydroxymethyl-1-[(2'-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)bip hen yl-4- yl)methyl]-imidazole, potassium salt (losartan) as a reference compound. TCV-116 is a prodrug, which is converted in vivo to the active component, 2-ethoxy-1-[[2'-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)biphenyl-4-yl)]methyl]-1H- benzimidazole-7-carboxylic acid (CV-11974). In spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) p.o. TCV-116 (0.1 mg/kg) demonstrated a sustained antihypertensive effect that lasted for more than 10 hr and the dose that reduced the blood pressure by an average of 25 mm Hg for 24 hr (ED25), was 0.68 mg/kg. Intravenous CV-11974 reduced the blood pressure with an ED25 of 0.0027 mg/kg. Repeated p.o. administration of TCV-116 (1 mg/kg) to SHR once daily for 2 weeks reduced the blood pressure by 30 to 50 mm Hg over 24 hr without any heart rate changes. The antihypertensive effects of TCV-116 correlated well with the inhibition of angiotensin II-induced contractile responses of aortic strips prepared ex vivo after p.o. administration of TCV-116. Oral TCV-116 had a sustained antihypertensive effect with ED25 of 0.03 and 0.23 mg/kg in two-kidney, one-clip and one-kidney, one-clip hypertensive rats, respectively, and was much more potent in SHR and renal-hypertensive rats than losartan.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)