To study the effects of acute uremia on the inotropic state of the rat heart, we subjected rats to bilateral nephrectomy and studied their hearts in the open chest 24 h later. Uremic rats had significantly higher systolic blood pressure than sham-operated animals. Left ventricular systolic pressure and maximum dP/dt, both during ejection and isovolumic contrations, were higher for any given end-diastolic pressure in hearts of uremic rats than in sham-operated animals. This difference in performance charcteristics was not abolished by doses of propranolol that blocked the heart rate response to isoproterenol. The administration of phenoxybenzamine during the 24 h of uremia abolished the blood pressure rise in uremic rats, but the increased contractile state persisted. Treatment of sham-operated animals with methoxamine to produce the same course of blood pressure as observed in uremic rats was also associated with an increased inotropic state. These results indicate that in the rat, acute uremia is associated with an increased inotropic state that is not mediated by beta-adrenergic mechanisms. The systolic hypertension of acute uremia is not the major cause of the increased contractility, although systolic hypertension without uremia can mimic the performance characteristics found in hearts of uremic rats.