The effects of adenosine receptor agonists and antagonists on field-stimulated release of radioactivity from superfused guinea-pig papillary muscles preincubated with [3H] noradrenaline were studied. N6-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA), N6-(R-phenylisopropyl)-adenosine, and 5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine caused concentration-dependent inhibition of evoked overflow with a rank order of potency typical for interaction of the compounds with the A1-subtype of adenosine receptors. Maximum inhibition was 80%. The A1-selective antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropyl-xanthine (DPCPX) induced a rightward shift of the concentration-response curve for CPA with a pA2 of 8.35. However, DPCPX per se had no effect on stimulation-evoked tritium overflow. On the other hand, in the presence of 4-nitrobenzylthioinosine (2 mumol/l) and deoxycoformycin (1 mumol/l), inhibitors of adenosine uptake and deamination, respectively, DPCPX produced a concentration-dependent increase in overflow with a pD2 of 8.1. Pretreatment of the animals with pertussis toxin caused a substantial reduction in the activity of toxin-sensitive G proteins, as indicated by a lack of [32P]ADP ribosylation in a ventricular membrane preparation. Nevertheless, the inhibitory effect of the adenosine receptor agonists on stimulus-evoked overflow remained unaffected. These results are compatible with the existence of inhibitory prejunctional adenosine receptors in guinea-pig papillary muscle, which appear to be coupled to a pertussis toxin-insensitive G protein. The role of endogenous adenosine in occupying these receptors seems minimal under basal conditions.