There is increasing evidence that the colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) may play a part in chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We examined the involvement of macrophage CSF (M-CSF or CSF-1) and granulocyte CSF (G-CSF) in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), a murine model of RA. Daily injections of M-CSF or G-CSF, 20–24 days postprimary immunization with type II collagen, exacerbated disease symptoms in suboptimally immunized DBA/1 mice. Support for the involvement of endogenous M-CSF in CIA was obtained by studies in which neutralizing monoclonal antibody reduced the severity of established CIA and also by studies showing the resistance of M-CSF-deficient op/op mice to CIA induction. These studies show that M-CSF and G-CSF can be proinflammatory in CIA and provide evidence that macrophage- and granulocyte-lineage cells can exacerbate CIA. Our results also show that M-CSF-dependent cells are essential for CIA development, suggesting M-CSF may be a suitable target for therapeutic intervention in RA.