The effect of hypertension on the expression of a fatty acid binding protein localized in the rat aorta was studied. The presence of rat heart fatty acid binding protein (hFABP) was documented in aortic tissue by using a cDNA probe and polyclonal antibodies. Hypertension was induced in groups of rats by implantation of deoxycorticosterone acetate in conjunction with 1% salt in the drinking water (deoxycorticosterone/salt). By the third week of this treatment a marked reduction (by a factor of 20) in the expression of hFABP mRNA in aorta was found, concomitant with a reduction in immunologically detectable protein, suggesting transcriptional regulation. This effect was tissue specific, since no change in the normal amounts of hFABP mRNA in heart, skeletal muscle, or kidney was found. This reduction in aortic hFABP mRNA was also found in mildly hypertensive uninephrectomized rats given salt but no deoxycorticosterone and in normotensive rats given deoxycorticosterone but no excess salt intake. A marked decrease in aortic hFABP mRNA also was observed in the Goldblatt two kidney-one clip hypertensive model, and administration of angiotensin II for 6 days by osmotic minipump also caused a reduction. These findings suggest that hFABP is under complex regulation in aortic tissue and is suppressed by arterial hypertension.