One of the beneficial effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in the treatment of heart failure may derive from sympathoinhibition and the prevention of beta-adrenergic desensitization. However, the roles of these properties in the overall effects of ACE inhibitor are not clear. We studied the effects of chronic enalapril treatment (20 mg/L in drinking water for 12 weeks) on left ventricular (LV) function, cardiac norepinephrine (NE), sympathetic neuronal function assessed by 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), beta-receptors, and isometric contraction of papillary muscle in rats with myocardial infarction (MI) induced by coronary artery ligation. Decreased LV function in the MI rats was associated with reduced cardiac NE content and MIBG uptake, and severely blunted responses of non-infarcted papillary muscle to isoproterenol, forskolin, and calcium. Enalapril attenuated LV remodeling in association with a reduction of the ventricular loading condition and restored baseline developed tension of non-infarcted papillary muscle to the level of sham-operated rats. However, enalapril did not improve cardiac NE content, MIBG uptake, or inotropic responsiveness to beta-agonists. These results suggest that the major effect of the ACE inhibitor enalapril in the treatment of heart failure is not due to sympathoinhibition or restoration of beta-adrenergic pathway in this model of heart failure.