Abstract： Calcium sensitizers exert positive inotropic effects without increasing intracellular Ca2+. Thus, they avoid the undesired effects of Ca2+ overload such as arrhythmias and cell injury, but most of them may impair myocyte relaxation. However, MCI-154, also a calcium sensitizer, has no impairment to cardiomyocyte relaxation. To clarify the underlying mechanisms, we examined the effects of MCI-154 on Ca2+ transient and cell contraction using ion imaging system, and its influence on L-type Ca2+ current and Na+/Ca2+ exchange current with patch clamp technique in rat ventricular myocytes as well. The results showed that: (1) MCI-154 (1～100 μmol/L) had no effect on L-type Ca2+ current; (2) MCI-154 concentration-dependently increased cell shortening from 5.00± 1.6 μm of control to 6.2± 1.6 μm at 1 μmol/L,8.7±1.6 μm at 10 μmol/L and 14.0±1.4 μm at 100 μmol/L, respectively, with a slight increase in Ca2+ transient amplitude and an abbreviation of Ca2+ transient restore kinetics assessed by time to 50% restore (TR50) and time to 90% restore (TR90); (3) MCI-154 dosedependently increased the electrogenic Na+/Ca2+ exchange current both in the inward and the outward directions in rat ventricular myocytes. These results indicate that MCI-154 exerted a positive inotropic action without impairing myocyte relaxation. The stimulation of inward Na+/Ca2+ exchange current may accelerate the Ca2+ effiux, leading to abbreviations of TR50 and TR90 in rat myocytes. The findings suggest that the improvement by MCI-154 of myocyte relaxation is attributed to the forward mode of Na+/Ca2+ exchange.