The effect of heart rate on plasma fibrinolytic activity was investigated in nine patients with dual chamber cardiac pacemakers before and after 10 min of stimulated tachycardia to 123 beats/min. The results were compared to seven volunteers who performed submaximal exercise to 90% target heart rate and to five of the seven who underwent a second period of exercise to a heart rate of 120 beats/min. During submaximal exercise (mean heart rate 152 beats/min) the median ECLT fell from 248 min (interquartile range 147.5-305) to 90 (55-202) P less than 0.01 and t-PA:Ag increased from 6.1 ng/ml (3.92-7.95) to 9.3 (8.45-12.7), P less than 0.025. PAI and PAI-1:Ag fell from 12.0 IU/ml (5.85-15.5) to 4.1 (1.85-11.67), P less than 0.01, and 9.7 ng/ml (2.8-10.6) to 6.7 (2.1-9.9), P less than 0.01 respectively. A lower level of exercise to 120 beats/min resulted in a reduction in ECLT from 215 min (167.5-228.5) to 135 (116-154), P = 0.05 and an increase in t-PA:Ag from 4 ng/ml (3.07-4.45) to 5.0 (3.3-5.22) P less than 0.05. PAI and PAI-1:Ag fell from 7.6 IU/ml (3.27-8.5) to 7.1 (2.77-7.4) and from 7.7 ng/ml (6.0-7.92) to 6.4 (4.8-7.3) respectively but these changes were not statistically significant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)