We have recently reported that infusion of stoichiometrically equal quantities of acid and base (neutral acid-base infusion) in the cat resulted in rapid, shallow breathing and in pulmonary hypertension (Orr et al., 1987). To investigate the mechanisms involved in these effects, we have measured in the anesthetized cat thromboxane (TX) B2 and 6-keto-prostaglandin (PG) F1 alpha, the stable metabolites of TXA2 and PGI2, in blood as well as cardiorespiratory parameters in response to neutral acid-base infusion. The first acid-base infusion prompted right ventricular blood pressure (Prv) to rise from 30 to a peak of about 55 mm Hg, with a concomitant rise in the right ventricular TXB2 level from below detection level to over 500 pg/ml. The second or third infusion evoked no (or small) rises in Prv and TXB2, individual values of Prv and TXB2 being tightly correlated. After blockade of TX synthesis by Dazmegrel, no changes were observed even at the first acid-base infusion in either Prv or TXB2. The TXA2 mimetic, U 46,619, caused Prv to rise with no change in TXB2, and this effect was repeatable. Increases were also observed in ventilation, particularly in respiratory rate. We conclude that acid exposure of blood stimulates TX synthesis and release from platelets, which in turn leads to pulmonary hypertension and to hyperventilation. The fact that these effects cannot be repeated within the same animal is due to a lack in TX release but not to a loss of responsiveness of the TX receptors in the lung.