The production of granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by peripheral blood (PB) light density mononuclear cells (LD-MNC), CD2+ T lymphocytes and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes was investigated in 20 human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) seropositive (WRII-III) individuals in comparison with 18 normal controls. GM-CSF in supernatants of stimulated cultures was determined by biological and immunoenzymatic assays. GM-CSF production by LD-MNC, CD2+ T lymphocytes and purified CD4+ T lymphocytes was significantly (p less than 0.01) reduced in HIV-1 infected individuals, especially in patients at the more advanced stages of the disease. Moreover, the number of circulating granulocyte/macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-gm) was significantly (p less than 0.01) reduced in HIV-1 seropositive subjects (31.5 +/- 4.4) compared with normal controls (78 +/- 10). There was a positive correlation (r = 0.720, p less than 0.01) between CFU-gm and GM-CSF production by LD-MNC in HIV-1 seropositive individuals. On the other hand, the absolute number of CD4+ lymphocytes did not correlate with GM-CSF production by LD-MNC (r = 0.158) or CD2+ T lymphocytes (r = 0.225). These data indicate that the impaired production of GM-CSF in HIV-1-infected individuals is not only due to a reduction in CD4+ T lymphocytes, but also to a qualitative impairment of these cells which may contribute to the loss of circulating hematopoietic progenitors in HIV-1-infected subjects.