Peritoneal macrophages from CBA mice incubated with recombinant murine tumour necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) are effective in killing the protozoa parasite Leishmania major in vitro. The leishmanicidal activity is directly correlated with the level of nitrite (NO2-) in the culture supernatants. The killing of intracellular parasites can be completely inhibited by L-NG-monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA), a specific inhibitor of the L-arginine: nitric oxide (NO) pathway. The level of NO2-, which is also a measurement of NO production, in the culture supernatant of TNF-alpha-activated macrophages can be progressively decreased to basal level with increasing concentrations of L-NMMA, but not with its D-enantiomer, D-NMMA. These data demonstrate that NO is an important effector mechanism in the TNF-alpha-induced macrophage killing of intracellular protozoa.