Although acute asbestos-induced pleurisy is characterized by an influx of neutrophils, the identity of the factors that attract these cells to the pleural space and the source of the factors are unknown. We found that instillation of crocidolite asbestos into the pleural space of rabbits led to the appearance in pleural liquid of chemotactic activity for neutrophils, and that this chemotactic activity was inhibited significantly by a neutralizing antibody to human interleukin 8 (IL-8). Cultured rabbit pleural mesothelial cells incubated with crocidolite asbestos also released chemotactic activity for neutrophils, which was inhibited significantly by the anti-IL-8 antibody. To determine whether rabbit pleural mesothelial cells synthesize IL-8, we generated a probe for rabbit IL-8 mRNA by amplifying cDNA prepared from stimulated pleural mesothelial cells using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and primers based on homologous sequences in human and sheep IL-8 cDNAs. Homology-based PCR yielded a single cDNA fragment with a nucleotide sequence 88% identical to that of a corresponding region of human IL-8 cDNA. With the radiolabeled PCR product as a probe, we demonstrated rapid induction of IL-8 mRNA expression in pleural mesothelial cells exposed to asbestos. As expected, tumor necrosis factor-alpha also led to the appearance of IL-8 in the rabbit pleural space and stimulated cultured pleural mesothelial cells to synthesize and release IL-8. We conclude that asbestos directly stimulates pleural mesothelial cells to synthesize IL-8 and that mesothelial cell-derived IL-8 may play an important role in mediating asbestos-induced pleural inflammation.