1. Atria, isolated from control rats, six-week streptozotocin-diabetic rats and from similarly diabetic rats treated with myo-inositol (MI) were compared. The MI treatment was shown to reverse the depressed sciatic nerve MI which was observed in the untreated diabetic group. 2. Spontaneously beating atria from the untreated diabetic animals beat more slowly, and with greater force than tissues from the control group. When electrically driven at 4 Hz they were found to be less sensitive to the negative inotropic effect of acetylcholine. No differences between the two groups were observed in responses to isoprenaline. 3. Intramural nerve stimulation in the presence of 10 (-6) M propranolol (vagal stimulation) had a greater negative inotropic effect in the untreated diabetic rat atria than in the controls. Positive inotropic responses to nerve stimulation in the presence of 10 (-6) M atropine (sympathetic stimulation) were not significantly different between the two groups. 4. Atria from the MI-treated diabetic animals were found to have a lower spontaneous contractile force and greater sensitivity to acetylcholine than tissues from the untreated diabetic animals. The values obtained in both cases were similar to those from the controls. No significant effect of MI treatment on spontaneous contractile rate or on responses to nerve stimulation was demonstrated. 5. Atrial (mainly myocardial) MI was measured in additional control, six-week diabetic and six-week MI-treated diabetic animals. A significantly higher concentration was observed in the MI supplemented group compared to the untreated diabetic group. The mean MI content in the latter group was lower than that obtained from control tissues but not significantly so.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)