Buffers are reported to modify electrical function of heart tissue. Since electrophysiological actions of antiarrhythmic drugs are examined in different buffer systems, we set out to examine the influence of buffers on lidocaine's electrophysiological actions by measuring recovery kinetics of maximum upstroke velocity (dV/dtmax) in lidocaine solutions buffered with HCO-3-CO2, N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid (HEPES), and tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) at extracellular pH 7.4. Transmembrane potential and dV/dtmax were recorded from guinea pig papillary muscle. Recovery kinetics were determined by introducing progressively earlier test stimuli during diastole. During lidocaine (1.5 X 10(-5) M) exposure, the time constant (Tr) of dV/dtmax recovery significantly increased when 21 mM HCO-3-5% CO2 was replaced by either 5 mM HEPES (38 +/- 8%, mean, +/- SED) or 5 mM Tris (41 +/- 6%). This potentiation of Tr was 1) reversed by increasing Tris to 20 mM, and 2) also abolished by restoring HCO-3-CO2 to HEPES or Tris solutions. Decreasing HCO-3 (21-4 mM) and CO2 (5-1%) increased Tr by 27 +/- 1%. We propose that the mechanism for the potentiation of Tr is therefore related to buffer concentration rather than to the lack of HCO-3-CO2. We speculate that, by reducing surface pH, lowered buffer capacity can slow the rate of dV/dtmax recovery.