Angiotensin II can stimulate the sympathetic system and inhibit vagal (parasympathetic) outflow under experimental circumstances in animals. Blockade of angiotensin II formation by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors might therefore be expected to result in a reduction of sympathetic activity and enhanced parasympathetic activity. Whether this is so in normotensive or hypertensive humans and in human cardiac failure is unclear, since available techniques for recording activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are imperfect. Nevertheless, most evidence that comes from measurements of venous norepinephrine suggests that the ACE inhibitors have little or no effect on sympathetic activity in normotension and hypertension, although the activated sympathetic system in severe cardiac failure is probably suppressed. It appears that the ACE inhibitors have a parasympathomimetic action that may contribute to the hemodynamic effects of these drugs. Additional information using direct recordings of sympathetic traffic or measurements of norepinephrine "spillover" is needed to clarify the effects of ACE inhibitors on the sympathetic system.