Acetaldehyde (ACA), an ethanol metabolite, exerts both stimulatory and depressive effects on isolated myocardial tissue, but its impact on individual cardiac myocytes is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ACA-induced myocardial depression is due to an intrinsic alteration of the contractile properties of heart at the cellular level. Mechanical properties of adult rat ventricular myocytes were evaluated using a video edge-detection system. Myocytes were electrically stimulated to contract at 0.5 Hz under isotonic conditions in a physiological buffer containing 1 mM CaCl2. Contractile properties analyzed include: peak twitch amplitude (PTA), time-to-PTA (TPT), time-to-relengthening (TR90) and maximal velocities of shortening and relengthening (+/-dL/dt). Ca2+ transients were measured as fura-2 fluorescence intensity (FFI) changes. ACA (1-30 mM) disproportionately depressed PTA and FFI in a dose-dependent manner, with maximal inhibitions of 57 and 19%, respectively. Neither the durations nor maximal velocities of shortening and relengthening were affected by ACA. The depression of cell shortening by ACA was either attenuated or blocked by BayK 8644 or elevated extracellular Ca2+ (2.7 mM). In addition, ACA also reduced caffeine-induced FFI changes. These results suggest that ACA-induced myocardial depression in multicellular preparations is due to an intrinsic action on individual myocytes. The mechanism underlying ACA-induced myocardial depression may be due, in part, to either reduced Ca2+ entry through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels and/or depression of sarcoplasmic reticular Ca2+ release.