This study was carried out to test the hypothesis that, in chronic hepatitis (CH), inflammatory processes, including viral replication, host immune response, and hepatocyte destruction, are regulated by a cytokine network in the liver. Expression of the mRNA of the cytokines IL1-beta, IL2, IL4, IL5, IL6, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma, the lymphocyte markers CD4 and CD8, and the HLA class I molecule, beta 2-microglobulin (B2MG) in the liver tissue of 20 CH(C) cases and 9 CH(B) patients was investigated by the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. TNF-alpha, CD4, and B2MG mRNA were detected in 100% of cases of in both CH(B) and CH(C). The expression rates of IL1-beta, IL2, IL4, IFN-gamma, and CD8 mRNA were 80%, 40%, 25%, 40%, and 80% in CH(C) and 88.9%, 44.5%, 30%, 55.6%, and 100% in CH(B). IL6 mRNA was detected only in CH(B), in 22.2% of cases, IL5 mRNA was not detected in either CH(B) or CH(C). IL2, IL4, and IFN-gamma mRNA were expressed significantly more frequently in patients who had high serum ALT and a high histological activity index (HAI) score. There was no difference in cytokine expression between CH(B) and CH(C), except in IL6, suggesting the existence of a common immunopathogenesis for CH(B) and CH(C). In chronic viral hepatitis, IL1-beta and TNF-alpha appear to play a major role in immune responses and IL2, IL4, and IFN-gamma seem to be associated with increased cytotoxic T cell response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)