Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) synthesize and secrete C component factors H and C3. Addition of T cell growth factor to HUVEC enhanced factor H production, and caused a profound increase in C3 production. In the present study, investigations were initiated to characterize the effects of purified rIL-1 and rIFN-gamma on the production of factor H and C3 at the protein and mRNA level. IFN-gamma enhanced factor H production in a dose-dependent fashion and a two-fold increase was observed with an optimal dose of 200 U/ml, whereas IFN-gamma had no effect on C3 production. IL-1 inhibited factor H secretion, but the production of C3 was increased 10-fold at an optimal dose of 500 pg/ml of IL-1. Kinetic experiments demonstrated that addition of IL-1 to HUVEC resulted in an induction of C3 production after more than 24 h, whereas IFN-gamma already had a significant effect on factor H production after 8 h of culture. IL-1 in combination with IFN-gamma had a synergistic effect on C3 production. The effects of IL-1 and IFN-gamma on factor H and C3 production by HUVEC could be blocked by using neutralizing amounts of antibodies specific for these cytokines. Northern blot analysis showed that factor H mRNA expression was enhanced in IFN-gamma-treated HUVEC and C3 mRNA was induced in IL-1-treated HUVEC, indicating that the observed increase of factor H and C3 probably is controlled by enhancement of transcription or stability of the transcript.