Regulation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) production and muscarinic binding were studied in highly washed left ventricular membranes from spontaneously cardiomyopathic Syrian hamsters (TO strain). Basal production of cAMP was decreased relative to that in random-bred (RB) controls, with proportionally similar decreases in stimulated production elicited by 7 beta-deacetyl-7 beta-(gamma-N-methylpiperazino)-butyryl forskolin and by the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol. GTP-stimulated production of cAMP was inhibited fully by the muscarinic agonist carbachol in tissue from controls, but only partially in tissue from TO hamsters. Total muscarinic binding, as revealed by N-[3H]methylscopolamine, was similar in the two strains. Competition between carbachol and the radioligand revealed at least three classes of sites for the agonist, the apparent affinities of which were insensitive to the disease. Upon the addition of guanylyl imidodiphosphate (GMP-PNP, 0.1 mM), there was a disease-dependent redistribution such that the sites appeared to be predominantly of low affinity for the agonist in RB tissue and predominantly of medium affinity in TO tissue. The potency of GMP-PNP in mediating the change in carbachol binding apparently was unaffected by the disease. The loss of muscarinic regulation of cAMP production in TO left ventricular tissue appears to reflect a disease-related change in the coupling of muscarinic receptors to inhibitory GTP-binding proteins.