Human chorion, but not amnion, tissue explants produced substantial quantities of neutrophil chemoattractant in response to interleukin 1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha). This suggested that chorion is one of the chemoattractant producing tissues. Therefore, the biochemical properties and the regulation of a chemoattractant in human chorionic cells were examined. IL-1 alpha and TNF alpha stimulated human chorionic cells to produce neutrophil chemotactic factor in both a dose- and time-dependent manner. This chemotactic factor was a heat-stable and trypsin-sensitive protein with an apparent molecular weight of 10000, and it was also immunologically identified as a chemotactic cytokine of the human IL-8 family. Immunohistochemical observations with IL-1 alpha- and TNF alpha-treated chorion explants indicated that trophoblasts and stromal cells, including fibroblast-like and macrophage-like cells, but not endothelial cells, were characterized as IL-8-producing cells. From these observations, it is very likely that both IL-1 and TNF alpha may participate in the production of chemotactic factor/IL-8 in pre-term parturition, accompanied by an intraamniotic infection, along with their known promotive effect on the production of matrix metalloproteinases, which is connected with the destruction of matrix components of fetal membranes.