It was recently shown that interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) is produced by bone and bone marrow‐derived stromal cells and that it plays an important role in osteoclast development. Here we examined whether parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin (CT), or the calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) influence IL‐6 production by two murine bone marrow‐derived stromal cell lines: the preadipocyte‐like stromal cell line +/+ LDA11 and the fibroendothelial stromal cell line MBA 13.2. We found that CGRP (but not PTH or CT) exerted a dose‐dependent increase in cAMP and IL‐6 production in the +/+ LDA11 cells. In addition, CGRP had an inhibiting effect on the proliferation of this stromal cell line. CGRP, however, did not affect cAMP or IL‐6 in the rat osteogenic sarcoma cell line UMR‐106‐06, which exhibits CT receptors, whereas CT stimulated both cAMP and IL‐6 by the UMR‐106‐01 cells. In contrast to the specificity of the IL‐6 response of the +/+ LDA11 cells to CGRP, IL‐6 production by the MBA 13.2 stromal cells was stimulated by PTH whereas CGRP or CT had no effect. These data suggest that bone marrow‐derived stromal cells express receptors for either CGRP or PTH in a phenotype‐specific manner and that, acting via these receptors, CGRP and PTH stimulate IL‐6 production by stromal cells. In addition, the evidence for specific receptors for the neuropeptide CGRP in bone marrow stromal cells and an effect of CGRP on IL‐6 raises the possibility for a role of cytokines in a putative interplay between neuronal stimuli and bone.