Reflex circulatory responses are chiefly governed by the integrated functions of both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems at any moment. To examine how sympathetic denervation of the important effector organ, the heart, modifies such reflex responses, the authors compared circulatory responses to arterial baroreflexes, the Valsalva maneuver (VM), coughing (C), swallowing (S), and nasal stimulation (NS) before and after cervical epidural blockade using 10 ml of 1.5% lidocaine in awake, healthy humans. The cervico-thoracic sympathetic denervation (sensory block of C4-T7) caused a slight suppression of the baroreflex sensitivity assessed by increases in RR intervals to increased systolic blood pressure with a pressor test (phenylephrine) in all eight subjects studied; the mean slopes of the regression lines were 29.1 +/- 9.8 ms X mmHg-1 before the blockade and 17.2 +/- 6.3 ms X mmHg-1 after the blockade (P less than 0.05). However, the baroreflex sensitivity to a depressor test (nitroglycerin) remained unchanged following the blockade. Furthermore, the responses in heart rate and blood pressure to VM (Phases II and IV) and the responses in heart rate to C, S, and NS were partially suppressed after the blockade (P less than 0.05). Despite these suppressions, the overall responses to VM, C, S, and NS remained unchanged after the blockade. No predominant parasympathetic responses such as profound hypotension and bradycardia were observed during any maneuver after the blockade.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)