Early experience with recombinant adenoviruses for gene transfer to airway epithelium suggests that these vectors are associated with the development of inflammation. The mechanisms for this are unclear, but previous work has shown that respiratory viruses can cause increased expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) on airway epithelial cells. We therefore hypothesized that recombinant adenoviruses may induce ICAM-1 expression and thereby facilitate the development of airway inflammation. To address this, primary cultures of human bronchial epithelial cells were examined for ICAM-1 expression by flow cytometry after infection with a serotype 5, E1/E3-deleted recombinant adenovirus containing the Escherichia coli LacZ reporter gene driven by the cytomegalovirus promoter (Ad.CMVlacZ). Compared with control cells, ICAM-1 expression was unchanged after infection with Ad.CMVlacZ, but increased after infection with wild-type adenovirus. Treatment of Ad.CMVlacZ-infected cells with interferon-gamma (IFN) resulted in increased ICAM-1 expression, but to a lower level than that seen in cells treated with IFN alone, indicating that recombinant adenovirus infection blunted IFN-induced up-regulation of ICAM-1. Adhesion of human leukocytes to human bronchial epithelial cells was not increased after Ad.CMVlacZ infection, thereby excluding an ICAM-1-independent increase in leukocyte-epithelial adhesion. The results for ICAM-1 expression were confirmed in vivo, as immunostaining of human bronchial xenografts infected with Ad.CMVlacZ revealed basilar epithelial staining with ICAM-1, but no increased expression on cells expressing beta-galactosidase. This study demonstrates that unlike other respiratory viruses, recombinant E1/E3-deleted adenovirus does not cause increased ICAM-1 expression on human bronchial epithelium in vitro or in vivo nor increased leukocyte adhesion in vitro.