The capability of elevated intracellular cyclic AMP concentration to activate IL-1 gene expression and protein production was examined in human peripheral blood monocytes. In accordance with previous studies it was observed that the transiently elevated cyclic AMP (induced either with prostaglandin E2 or with the direct adenylate cyclase activator, forskolin) was not a sufficient signal to activate IL-1 production. However, if the degradation of cyclic AMP was inhibited with isobutyl-methyl-xanthine (IBMX), IL-1 production was strongly activated. This prostaglandin E2 plus IBMX effect could also be mimicked with high concentrations of the cell permeant structural cyclic AMP analogue, dibutyryl cyclic AMP. The cyclic AMP-induced IL-1 production differed in some aspects from the bacterial lipopolysaccharide-induced IL-1 production: (1) the kinetics of both IL-1 gene expression and protein production was much slower; (2) the IL-1 beta gene expression was superinducible by inhibiting the protein synthesis with cycloheximide. Thus these data suggest that prolonged elevation of cyclic AMP is alone a sufficient signal to activate IL-1 production.