We have measured the production of interleukin 1 (IL 1), interleukin 6 (IL 6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) by unstimulated monocytes and monocytes stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) isolated from the peripheral blood of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) and healthy controls. Spontaneous and LPS-induced cytokine production were not significantly different between patients and controls. Median lipopolysaccharide-stimulated cytokine secretion for patients and controls was 1.7 and 4.3 U/ml for IL 1, 475 and 625 U/ml for IL 6, and 468 and 580 pg/ml for TNF alpha. Cytokine levels were not related to stage of disease. We conclude that in vivo HIV infection itself does not alter peripheral blood monocyte cytokine secretion.