Monocyte/macrophage contribution of C biosynthesis is important, particularly during inflammation. Since granulocyte-macrophage CSF (GM-CSF) and macrophage-CSF (M-CSF) exert a variety of stimulatory effects on monocyte/macrophage functions in vitro, we studied their impact on the biosynthesis of the C components C3 and factor B by human monocytes in culture. GM-CSF at doses of 10 ng/ml and higher inhibited the basal C3 synthesis. This effect was most pronounced when the cytokine was added to freshly isolated monocytes. No effect was found on the basal production of factor B. Furthermore, GM-CSF abrogated the LPS-stimulated production of both C3 and factor B. These suppressive effects were neutralized by a polyclonal anti-GM-CSF antibody. Moreover, when anti-GM-CSF was added to unstimulated or LPS-stimulated cells, their C3 production increased. This indicates that both spontaneous and LPS-triggered release of monocyte-produced GM-CSF has an autocrine function in regulating monocyte C3 biosynthesis. GM-CSF also down-modulated the expression of CD14 at an early stage of cell culture. This might be the mechanism through which the LPS-effects are suppressed because CD14 has been shown to be a LPS receptor. Contrary to this, M-CSF at doses of 100 U/ml and higher stimulated the synthesis of C3, whereas the basal production of factor B and the LPS-stimulated production of C3 and factor B were unaffected. Granulocyte-CSF (G-CSF) did not influence monocyte C biosynthesis, and neither anti-M-CSF nor anti-G-CSF influenced the LPS-induced C3 production. The effects of GM-CSF and M-CSF on C biosynthesis may be important in regulating the availability of C components during an inflammatory response, and these observations may also have implications for the clinical use of CSF.