The human monocytic cell line THP-1 was used as a model to study the mechanism of infection in the monocyte/macrophage, a natural target of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection in vivo. Both the virulent strain, LCMV.WE, and the avirulent strain, LCMV.ARM, infected THP-1 cells, but did not stimulate THP-1 cells to secrete interleukin 1 (IL-1) or tumour necrosis factor (TNF-alpha). When lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was added to THP-1 cells together with LCMV, an 80 to 90% reduction in the number of infected cells (measured by immunofluorescence) and a 90% reduction in viral plaques was observed 5 to 6 days post-infection. Neither interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) nor IFN-beta were detected in supernatants from THP-1 cells after the addition of LCMV, LPS, or LPS plus LCMV. In contrast, the same levels of IL-1 and TNF-alpha were observed in the presence of LPS and LCMV, or LPS alone. However, antibodies to IL-1, TNF-alpha, interleukin 6 and IFN-alpha did not block the antiviral effect of LPS. In kinetic studies, LPS added 1 day after adding LCMV to THP-1 cells was still effective in reducing the number of infected cells. Our findings suggest that LPS alters cellular metabolism, possibly through the induction of IFN-alpha, and that IFN-alpha in the absence of LPS suppresses virus production.