Experiments were designed to examine whether thrombin affects the production of nitric oxide-like factor(s) evoked by interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) in cultured smooth muscle cells from the rat aorta. IL-1 beta stimulated the release of nitrite (a stable oxidation product of nitric oxide) from cultured smooth muscle cells. Thrombin inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner the release of nitrite caused by IL-1 beta. The inhibition was prevented by hirudin (a thrombin inhibitor) and required the presence of thrombin before or during the induction period. Under bioassay conditions, the perfusates from columns containing IL-1 beta-treated smooth muscle cells relaxed detector rat aortic rings without endothelium. The addition of IL-1 beta-treated smooth muscle cells to suspensions of indomethacin-treated platelets inhibited their aggregation. Control untreated smooth muscle cells or cells treated with thrombin alone did not have such effects. The treatment of smooth muscle cells with IL-1 beta in combination with thrombin blunted both the relaxing activities of the perfusates under bioassay conditions and the inhibition of platelet aggregation. These observations indicate that thrombin inhibits the production of nitric oxide-like factor(s) evoked by the inducible nitric oxide synthase in cultured smooth muscle cells from rat aorta.