Pre-treatment of the endothelial cells lining the guinea pig inferior vena cava with 8-(diethylamino)octyl 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate (TMB-8) (10 microM) in vitro significantly reduced the shape changes resulting from subsequent exposure to platelet activating factor (PAF) (0.1 microM), calcium ionophore A23187 (10 microM), histamine (300 microM), bradykinin (2 microM), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) (30 microM), or leukotrienes (LT) C4, D4 or E4 (1 microM). Since TMB-8 is an intracellular calcium antagonist, this provides evidence to support the suggestion that these inflammatory agents increase the concentration of intracellular calcium which brings about a contraction of the actin-myosin complex resulting in endothelial cell shape changes, and the formation of interendothelial cell gaps.