The amidase activity of human alpha-thrombin has been studied in the presence of the adenosine nucleotides AMP, ADP and ATP. At low concentrations, adenosine nucleotides increase thrombin activity up to 30%, while at high concentrations (greater than 5 mM) inhibition takes place up to 20%. Inhibition is progressively reduced by increasing substrate concentration. A simple, phenomenological description of the linkage between adenosine nucleotide binding and amidase activity of human alpha-thrombin is proposed and the free energy changes for the underlying reactions involved in the linkage scheme are resolved by global analysis of the experimental data. The linkage scheme assumes that thrombin activation is determined by a conformational transition due to binding of adenosine nucleotides to a regulatory site. Inhibition, on the other hand, would be a consequence of competitive binding to the catalytic site.