Objective To investigate the effect of interleukin-6 (IL-6) on the human growth hormone (hGH) gene expression in a rat somatotropic pituitary cell line MtT/S. Methods The plasmids containing various lengths of hGH gene 5'-promoter fragments were constructed. Stably transfeeted MtT/S cells were created by cotransfecting the above plasmids and pcDNA3.1 (+) with DMRIE-C transfection reagent. After the administration of these cells with IL-6 and/or various inhibitors of signaling tlansduction pathways, the luciferase activities in MtT/S cells lysis were assayed to demonstrate the effects of IL-6 on hGH gene promoter activity and possibly involved mechanism.Results The 103 U/mL IL-6 stimulated GH secretion and synthesis, and promoted the 5'-promoter activity of GH gene in stably transfected MtT/SGL cells with the action of 1.69 times above the controL Among inhibitors of signaling transduction pathways, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MAPKK/MEK) inhibitor PD98059 (40 μmol/L) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor SB203580 (5 μmol/L) completely blocked the stimulatory effect of IL-6. Western blot analysis further confLrmed the activation of phosphorylated MEK and p38 MAPK in MtT/SGL cells. Neither over-expression of Pit-1 nor inhibition of Pit-1 expression affected IL-6 induction of hGH promoter activity. A series of deletion constructs of hGH promoter were created to identify the DNA sequence that mediated the effect of IL-6. The results showed that the stimulatory effect of IL-6 was abolished following deletion of the - 196 to - 132 bp fragment.Conclusions IL-6 promotes GH secretion and synthesis by rat MtT/S somatotroph cells. The stimulatory effect of IL-6 on hGH gene promoter appears to require the activation of MEK and p38 MAPK, and a fragment of promoter sequence that spans the - 196 to - 132 bp of the gene, but may be unlinked with Pit-I protein.