Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) appear in the nasal mucosa during rhinovirus colds before the onset of symptoms. This study describes a chemoattractant for PMNLs that is elaborated by human embryonic lung fibroblast cells infected with rhinovirus. Chemotaxis assays were done in a 48-well microchemotaxis chamber with normal adult PMNLs. Medium supernatants from rhinovirus-infected cell culture attracted 87 +/- 6 (mean +/- SE) PMNLs/10 high-power fields (x450) compared with 38 +/- 6 PMNLs/10 high-power fields attracted by medium from uninfected cell cultures (P less than .0001). Elaboration of the chemoattractant was not a result of cell destruction and did not require the presence of infectious virus. This chemoattractant produced by human fibroblast cells may contribute to the influx of PMNLs into the nasal mucosa during rhinovirus infection. The PMNLs may, in turn, have a role in producing symptoms of the common cold.