The use of enzyme inhibitors to clarify the role of thromboxane A2 in vasoocclusive disease has been complicated by their non-specific action. To address this problem we have examined the effects of thromboxane A2/prostaglandin endoperoxide receptor antagonism in a canine model of platelet-dependent coronary occlusion. Two structurally distinct thromboxane A2/prostaglandin endoperoxide receptor antagonists, 3-carboxyl-dibenzo (b, f) thiepin-5,5-dioxide (L636,499) and (IS-(1 alpha,2 beta(5Z),3 beta,4 alpha))-7-(3-((2-((phenylamino)-carbonyl)hydrazino)methyl)-7- oxabicy-clo(2.2.1)-hept-2-yl)-5-heptenoic acid (SQ 29,548), were studied to ensure that the effects seen in vivo were mediated by receptor antagonism and did not reflect a nonspecific drug effect. Both compounds specifically inhibited platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid and by the prostaglandin endoperoxide analogue, U46619, in vitro and ex vivo, and increased the time to thrombotic vascular occlusion in vivo. When an antagonist (L636,499) was administered at the time of occlusion in vehicle-treated dogs, coronary blood flow was restored. In vitro L636,499 and a third antagonist, 13-azaprostanoic acid, specifically reversed endoperoxide-induced platelet aggregation and vascular smooth muscle contraction. Neither compound altered cyclic AMP in platelet-rich plasma before or during disaggregation. Therefore, reversal of coronary occlusion may reflect disaggregation of platelets and/or relaxation of vascular smooth muscle at the site of thrombus formation through specific antagonism of the thromboxane A2/prostaglandin endoperoxide receptor. Thromboxane A2/prostaglandin endoperoxide receptor antagonists are compounds with therapeutic potential which represent a novel approach to defining the importance of thromboxane A2 and/or endoperoxide formation in vivo.