Analysis of the conditioned medium from cultured human heart valves showed that these tissues secrete a biologically active factor that induces chondrocytes in cultured cartilage to degrade extracellular matrix proteoglycan. This activity was similar to that described for porcine interleukin-1 (catabolin) and a cytokine secreted by cultured porcine heart valves (cardiac catabolic factor). The biological activity of the material in human valve conditioned medium was unaffected by the presence of low doses of cortisol, but its production by cultured valves was impaired by this steroid or benoxaprofen and abolished by cycloheximide. Addition of the conditioned medium to fibroblast monolayers stimulated the secretion of prostaglandin E and the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) but not collagenase. Preincubation of the conditioned medium with antiserum raised to the acidic form of porcine interleukin-1 neutralised the proteoglycan degrading stimulus. The material is biologically similar to other cytokines and antigenically related to porcine interleukin-1.