Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease with a marked propensity for involvement of the pulmonary parenchyma and thoracic lymphatic system. This granulomatous process is characterized by aggregations of mononuclear cells, multinucleated giant cells, and variable degrees of fibrosis. The agent(s) responsible for the initiation of the inflammatory granulomatous process remain unknown. Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1) is a cytokine that has been shown to possess potent proinflammatory properties and is likely to play a role in mediating many of the immunopathologic events observed in sarcoidosis. Despite the degree of granulomatous inflammation, both the pulmonary and systemic pathogenic changes associated with sarcoidosis have a remarkable propensity for spontaneous resolution. The interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IRAP), an endogenous inhibitor of IL-1 bioactivity, may have a critical role as an in vivo immunomodulator of IL-1-dependent granulomatous inflammation of sarcoidosis. In this study we demonstrate constitutive expression of IRAP mRNA and antigen from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cells and cell-free fluid, respectively, obtained from both normal subjects and patients with sarcoidosis. However, immunolocalization of IRAP was found to be significantly localized to the sarcoid granuloma as compared with the uninvolved lung interstitium. Our findings indicate that IRAP expression is compartmentalized (granuloma) within the interstitium of patients with sarcoidosis. Thus, IRAP may function as an important in vivo immunomodulator of granulomatous inflammation.