1. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of the delayed pharmacological preconditioning produced by an adenosine A(1)-receptor agonist (A(1)-DPC) against ventricular arrhythmias induced by ischaemia and reperfusion, compared to those of ischaemia-induced delayed preconditioning (I-DPC). 2. Eighty-nine instrumented conscious rabbits underwent a 2 consecutive days protocol. On day 1, rabbits were randomly divided into four groups: 'Control' (saline, i.v.), 'I-DPC' (six 4-min coronary artery occlusion/4-min reperfusion cycles), 'A(1)-DPC(100)' (N(6)-cyclopentyladenosine, 100 microg kg(-1), i.v.), and 'A(1)-DPC(400)' (N(6)-cyclopentyladenosine, 400 microg kg(-1), i.v.). On day 2, i.e., 24 h later, the incidence and severity of ventricular arrhythmias during a 30-min coronary artery occlusion and subsequent reperfusion were analysed in all animals, using an arrhythmia score. 3. I-DPC, A(1)-DPC(100) and A(1)-DPC(400) significantly reduced the infarct size (34+/-5, 42+/-3 and 43+/-7% of the area at risk, respectively) as compared to Control (55+/-3% of the area at risk). 4. During both ischaemia and reperfusion, neither the incidence nor the severity of ventricular arrhythmias were altered by A(1)-DPC(100), A(1)-DPC(400) or I-DPC as compared to Control. 5. Thus, despite reduction of infarct size induced by delayed preconditioning, A(1)-DPC as well as I-DPC failed to exert any anti-arrhythmic effect in the conscious rabbit model of ischaemia-reperfusion.