Arachidonate metabolites modulate glomerular mesangial cell contractility through specific receptors coupled to phospholipase C or adenylate cyclase. The resulting intracellular signals, including changes of cytosolic Ca2+, pH, and cyclic adenosine 3'5'-monophosphate (cAMP) are known to also regulate the growth of many cell types. Since eicosanoids have been shown to interfere with cell proliferation in culture, we studied DNA synthesis and cell number in rat mesangial cell cultures exposed to a selective phospholipase C activator, prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha), or to the cAMP-stimulating PGI2 analogue, Iloprost. PGF2 alpha dose-dependently enhanced DNA synthesis and cell proliferation in the presence of insulin, with an EC50 of 0.1 microM. This eicosanoid potentiated the effects of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) or low concentrations of serum. Maximum stimulatory potency was about one-third that of PDGF. Removal of PGF2 alpha after short-term stimulation (30 min) did not reverse its mitogenic effect. Iloprost had no effect on DNA synthesis of quiescent cells, but potently inhibited growth stimulated by various concentrations of fetal serum. PG released within the glomerular microcirculation may play a regulatory role in both normal and deranged mesangial cell growth.