This study was designed to clarify the contribution of IL-8 as a specific neutrophil chemotactic factor in the human respiratory tract in various pulmonary diseases. The neutrophil chemotactic activity (NCA), neutrophil counts and IL-8 concentration in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) obtained from normal volunteers (NV), control patients (CP), patients with diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) and patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) were examined. Neutrophil counts, NCA and IL-8 concentration in BALF obtained from patients with DPB or IPF was significantly higher than that from NV or CP. The IL-8 concentration correlated with neutrophil count and also correlated with NCA in BALF from patients with IPF, whereas there was no correlation between these factors in BALF from DPB. These results suggest that the contribution of IL-8 to neutrophil accumulation of the lower respiratory tract is different between IPF and DPB.