AIM: To investigate the muscarinic regulation of L-type calcium current (ICa-L) during development. METHODS:The whole cell patch-clamp technique was used to record Ica- L in mice embryonic cardiomyocytes at different stages (the early developmental stage, EDS; the intermediate developmental stage, IDS; and the late developmental stage, LDS). Carbachol (CCh) was used to stimulate M-receptor in the embryonic cardiomyocytes of mice.RESULTS: The expression of Ica-L density did not change in different developmental stages (P＞0.05). There was no difference in the sensitivity of ICa-L to CCh during development (P＞0.05). This inhibitory action of CCh was mediated by inhibition of cyclic AMP since 8-bromo-cAMP completely reversed the muscarinic inhibitory action.IBMX, a non-selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase (PDE), reversed the inhibitory action of M-receptor on ICa-Lcurrent by 71.2 %±9.2 % (n=8) and 11.3 %±2.5 % (n=9) in EDS and LDS respectively. However forskolin, an agonist of adenylyl cyclase (AC), reversed the action of CCh by 14.5 %±3.5 % (n=5) and 82.7 %±10.4 % (n=7) in EDS and LDS respectively. CONCLUSION: The inhibitory action of CCh on ICa-L current was mediated in different pathways: in EDS, the inhibitory action of M-receptor on ICa-L channel mainly depended on the stimulation of PDE. However, in LDS, the regulation by M-receptor on ICa-L channel mainly depended on the inactivation of AC.