Neutrophils were purified from blood of dexamethasone-treated (0.04 mg/kg of body weight) and untreated calves. Cells were untreated (controls) or cultured in media containing 5 or 10 ng of bovine recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rbGM-CSF)/ml for 10 to 12 hours before being tested for various functions. Dexamethasone treatment of calves decreased luminol-dependent chemiluminescence, decreased phagocytosis of Pasteurella multocida and several Staphylococcus spp by various degrees, and decreased antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity against bovine herpesvirus-infected cells by 26 to 32%. The percentage phagocytosis of coagulase-positive S aureus and S intermedius was higher than that of coagulase-negative S epidermidis for neutrophils from all calves. Culture of neutrophils with rbGM-CSF significantly increased (P less than 0.05) all of the aforementioned functions, compared with control neutrophils; however, rbGM-CSF-induced increases in function tended to be higher in neutrophils from dexamethasone-treated calves than in neutrophils from untreated calves.