The objective of this study was to explore the action of angiotensin II (AII) on cardiac contractility and cyclic AMP (cAMP) generation by forskolin and isoproterenol in the hypertrophic myocardium of the salt-sensitive Dahl rat. Inbred Dahl S and Dahl R rats that had been on a diet supplemented with 6% NaCl were studied. The functional effects of the interaction of AII and forskolin on cardiac contractility were assessed in the isolated heart preparation. The effect on the cAMP signal transduction pathway was assessed in cardiomyocytes isolated from hearts of Dahl S and R rats. Dahl S rats developed cardiac hypertrophy on a high-salt diet, whereas Dahl R rats did not. Forskolin increased cardiac contractility, which was differently affected by AII, depending on whether the heart was from hypertrophied Dahl S rat or from the control Dahl R rat. AII accentuated forskolin-induced increases in cardiac contractility in hypertrophic hearts but diminished forskolin-induced increases in contractility in the nonhypertrophied hearts. This response was reflected in the cAMP response to forskolin, in that AII decreased forskolin-induced increases in cAMP in the nonhypertrophic heart. AII had the reverse effect in cardiomyocytes from hypertrophied hearts, as AII increased forskolin-induced cAMP production. This was shown to be due to an AII receptor mediated effect, as it was antagonized by the AII receptor antagonist saralasin. The same effects of AII were found on isoproterenol-induced increases in cAMP. Similar results occurred in the presence of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), suggesting that the effect was on cAMP production rather than cAMP degradation. This was attributed to an inhibitory G protein (Gi) mechanism, as the muscarinic agonist carbachol, which acts through Gi, produced the same effects as AII. Furthermore, the effects of AII were abolished by pertussis toxin, which inactivates Gi. These data indicate a reversal of control by AII in the hypertrophic Dahl S heart in response to forskolin, which activates adenylyl cyclase directly on the catalytic subunit, converting the substrate, ATP, to cAMP, independent of the guanine nucleotide activated protein, and in response to isoproterenol, which activates adenylyl cyclase through G protein mechanisms. All accentuated the forskolin-induced increase in cardiac contractility and cAMP generation in the hypertrophied ventricle but decreased both contractility and cAMP generation in nonhypertrophied hearts, suggesting that the process of cardiac hypertrophy in salt-sensitive Dahl rat may compensate for the reduction in intracellular cAMP by altering its regulatory control by AII.