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We investigated whether decreases in circulating polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) during lethal Escherichia coli (E. coli) sepsis in canines are related to insufficient host granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Two-year-old purpose-bred beagles had intraperitoneal E. coli-infected or -noninfected fibrin clots surgically placed. By 10 to 12 h following clot, both infected survivors and nonsurvivors had marked increases (P = 0.001) in serum G-CSF levels (mean peak G-CSF ng/ml [+ or -] SE, 1,931 [+ or -] 364 and 2,779 [+ or -] 681, respectively) compared with noninfected controls (134 [+ or -] 79), which decreased at 24 to 48 h. Despite increases in G-CSF, infected clot placement caused delayed (P = 0.06) increases in PMN (mean [+ or -] SE change from baseline in cells x [10.sup.3]/[mm.sup.3] at 24 and 48 h) in survivors (+3.9 [+ or -] 3.9 and +13.8 [+ or -] 3.6) compared with noninfected controls (+13.1 [+ or -] 2.8 and +9.1 [+ or -] 2.5). Furthermore, infected nonsurvivors had decreases in PMN (-1.4 [+ or -] 1.0 and -1.1 [+ or -] 2.3, P = 0.006 compared with the other groups). We next investigated whether administration of G-CSF immediately after clot placement and continued for 96 h to produce more rapid and prolonged high levels of G-CSF after infection would alter PMN levels. Although G-CSF caused large increases in PMN compared with control protein from 2 to 48 h following clot in noninfected controls, it caused much smaller increases in infected survivors and decreases in infected nonsurvivors (P = 0.03 for the ordered effect of G-CSF comparing the three groups). Thus insufficient host G-CSF is unlikely the cause of decreased circulating PMN in this canine model of sepsis. Other factors associated with sepsis either alone or in combination with G-CSF itself may reduce increases or cause decreases in circulating PMN. granulocyte colony-stimulating factor; infection