1. Administration of bovine thrombin (100 u kg-1) into the carotid artery of rabbits induces a sustained accumulation of 111 Indium-labelled platelets within the cranial vasculature over the subsequent 3 h. 2. Intracarotid (i.c.) administration of defibrotide (64 mg kg-1 bolus plus 64 mg kg-1 h-1 for 1 h) prior to i.c. thrombin (100 u kg-1) significantly reduces the ability of thrombin to induce cranial thromboembolism in rabbits. 3. Intravenous (i.v.) administration of thrombin (20 u kg-1) in rabbits induces a reversible accumulation of radiolabelled platelets into the thoracic circulation which is significantly reduced by i.v. administration of defibrotide (64 mg kg-1 bolus plus 64 mg kg-1 h-1 for 1 h) prior to i.v. thrombin. In contrast, platelet accumulation in response to adenosine diphosphate (ADP; 20 micrograms kg-1, i.v.) or platelet activating factor (PAF; 50 ng kg-1, i.v.) is not significantly affected by this treatment. 4. Intravenous administration of the nitric oxide (NO)-synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME; 10 mg kg-1) potentiates platelet accumulation induced by low dose thrombin (10 u kg-1, i.v.) within the pulmonary vasculature of rabbits. The potentiated response is significantly abrogated following pretreatment with defibrotide (64 mg kg-1 bolus plus 64 mg kg-1 h-1 for 1 h, i.v.). 5. Intravenous injection of human thrombin (1250 u kg-1) to mice induces death within the majority of animals which is significantly reduced by pretreatment with defibrotide (150-175 mg kg-1, i.v.). In contrast, death induced by i.v. collagen (1.25 mg kg-1) plus adrenaline (75 microg kg-1) is not significantly affected by defibrotide pretreatment.6. The inhibitory effect of defibrotide in mice is abolished following concomitant treatment with the inhibitor of fribrinolysis, tranexamic acid (100 mg kg-1, i.v.), but is unaffected following treatment with the cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, aspirin (300 mg kg-1, i.p.).7. The protective effect of defibrotide against thrombin-induced thromboembolism in the mouse is potentiated by recombinant tissue-plasminogen activator (rt-PA; 1 mg kg-1, i.v.) or unfractionated heparin (10 u kg-1, i.v.) administration.8. The results suggest that defibrotide may possess antithrombotic activity on thrombin-induced thromboembolism which, at least in the mouse, may be partially mediated via induction of the fibrinolytic pathway.