Expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in normal human fibroblast cell strain, TIG-3, extends their replicative life span. We found that expression levels of interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) mRNA were up-regulated in hTERT-induced fibroblasts irrespective of population doubling level (PDL). Expression levels of these cytokines were low in growing young TIG-3 cells and in control vector-transfected TIG-3 cells but were up-regulated in growth-arrested young cells maintained at high cell density. In senescent TIG-3 cells, expression of IL-1beta, IL-6, and GM-CSF was moderately increased. These results indicate that the introduction of hTERT into normal fibroblasts up-regulates the expression of some inflammatory cytokines, and caution should be paid when introducing the hTERT gene to establish cell lines with normal phenotype. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.