Gossypol is an orally active male contraceptive with cardio-depressant side effects. To understand the mechanism of its cardiac actions, the interaction of gossypol with positive inotropic grugs was examined in isolated atrial muscle preparations obtained from guinea- pig heart. Gossypol delayed the onset of arrhythmias caused by digoxin. In the presence of gossypol, the positive inotropic effect of isoproterenol declined rapidly, and the effect of isoproterenol to increase tissue cyclic AMP concentrations was smaller. Pretreatment of atrial muscle with the combination of gossypol and isoproterenol markedly reduced effects of isoproterenol on developed tension and cyclic AMP concentrations when these effects were tested after the washout of the first dose of isoproterenol. These effects, however, were not specific to isoproterenol. The gossypol-isoproterenol pretreatment reduced the positive inotropic effect of ouabain or extracellular Ca 2+ These results indicate that gossypol has pharmacodynamic interactions with several positive inotropic agents that are known to enhance developed tension by increasing intracellular Ca 2+ transients.