The effects of the dihydropyridine analogs, nilvadipine (FR-34235) and mesudipine, on the electrical activity of rat aortic smooth muscle cells in culture (reaggregates) were compared with the calcium antagonist verapamil. Nilvadipine blocked the tetraethylammonium-induced action potentials (APs), whose inward current is carried almost exclusively by Ca2+ through voltage-dependent slow channels. The effects of nilvadipine were dose dependent, and nilvadipine had a more potent inhibitory effect on the K+-induced contraction than on the norepinephrine-induced contraction of rabbit aorta. The ED50 value for blockade of the K+-induced contracture by nilvadipine was 6.4 X 10(-8) M, and complete blockade of the Ca2+ slow channels occurred at 10(-8) M. Mesudipine also inhibited the Ca2+ slow channels in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells in a dose-dependent manner; elevation of the [Ca]O from 1.8 to 5.4 mM partially restored the slow APs. The order of the inhibitory action on the Ca2+-dependent slow APs was: nilvadipine greater than mesudipine greater than verapamil. The inhibition of Ca2+ influx during excitation by the drugs can account for their vasodilatory properties.