Chemokines and adhesion molecules play a pivotal role in leukocyte infiltration during tissue injury. RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted) is a monocyte chemoattractant that induces the expression of CD11/CD18 integrins on leukocytes for which intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is the ligand. Both RANTES and ICAM-1 can be expressed by mesangial cells (MC) in culture and in glomeruli during immune injury. In this study, the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the activation of RANTES and ICAM-1 in murine MC was examined. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and aggregated immunoglobulin (aggr. Ig) G, which enhance ROS formation in MC, increased mRNA transcripts of both RANTES and ICAM-1. Thiol-containing free-radical scavengers N-acetyl cysteine, dimethyl- and tetramethylthiourea, or pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate abrogated the increase in mRNA for RANTES and ICAM-1 in response to TNF-alpha or IgG. Hydroxy-methoxy acetophenone, an inhibitor of NADPH-dependent oxidase, also attenuated RANTES and ICAM-1 in response to TNF-alpha or IgG. ROS generated by addition of xanthine oxidase and hypoxanthine induced RANTES and ICAM-1 expression, whereas hydrogen peroxide caused no response. Because cAMP can interfere with gene activation in MC, the effects of 8-Br-cAMP, forskolin, and prostaglandin E2 on mRNA levels were examined for RANTES and ICAM-1. These agents attenuated the response to IgG aggregates and also to superoxide generation. Finally, the effect of glucocorticoids, which are frequently used in glomerular immune injury, was examined. Dexamethasone decreased mRNA for both RANTES and ICAM-1 after stimulation with aggr. IgG or TNF-alpha. Both forskolin and dexamethasone also reduced the amount of RANTES protein secreted by MC in response to aggr. IgG. Only dexamethasone decreased RANTES secretion in response to TNF-alpha stimulation. The inhibitory effects of cAMP and dexamethasone may explain the beneficial effects of cAMP mimetics, such as prostaglandin E2 and glucocorticoid administration on glomerular inflammatory processes.