Besides proliferation, migration of smooth muscle cells (SMC) is considered to be an essential cellular mechanism involved in plaque formation. Human SMCs were cultured from 14 arteriosclerotic lesions of coronary (n = 5), femoral (n = 7) and aortic (n = 2) arteries. By a semi-automatic standardized video analysis system SMC migratory activity was quantified to be 21.7 +/- 2.1 microns/h (n = 14; x +/- SD). Addition of drugs, such as calcium antagonists (10(-5) - 10(-7) M), heparin (100 micrograms/ml), SIN-1 (10(-5) M) and colchicine (10(-7) M) resulted in a significant decrease of SMC migratory velocity. Exposure to endogenous extracellular matrix proteins (5 micrograms/cm2) showed no effect for collagen I and a significant reduction of SMC migratory activity for fibronectin, respectively. Our results indicate SMC migratory velocity to be a parameter of potential interest to screen various substances for an anti-arteriosclerotic effect.