We investigated the effects of inflammatory cytokines and periodontopathic bacteria on expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, and E-selectin (endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule 1) in cultured human gingival fibroblasts (HGF). Cell surface ICAM-1 was upregulated on HGF under transcriptional control by exposure not only to interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and gamma interferon but also to sonic extracts prepared from Porphyromonas gingivalis and Prevotella intermedia (nigrescens) and lipopolysaccharides from Escherichia coli. However, these stimuli induced only minimal expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 and E-selectin on HGF. Binding assays using HGF and Molt 4, the human T-cell leukemia cell line, showed induced ICAM-1 to be functional, and the increased binding was blocked by a combination of monoclonal antibodies against ICAM-1 and leukocyte function-associated antigen 1. Furthermore, gingival tissues from adult periodontitis patients showed increased mRNA expression of ICAM-1 compared with that in tissues from normal healthy donors. In immunohistological analysis, we also observed in vivo that the expression of ICAM-1 on fibroblasts in adult periodontitis tissues was greater than that in normal gingiva. Thus, the overexpression of ICAM-1 on gingival fibroblasts induced by cytokines and periodontopathic bacteria is speculated to be deeply involved in the accumulation and retention of leukocyte function-associated antigen 1-bearing leukocytes in adult periodontitis lesions.