1. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of mobilization of bone marrow cells by granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) on ventricular function after myocardial infarction (MI). 2. After ligation of the left coronary artery, rats were divided into a vehicle control group (MI group) and a CSF-treated group (MI-CSF group). Rats in the MI-CSF group received a combination of G-CSF (50 microg/kg per day) and M-CSF (10(6) IU/kg per day) for 5 days after MI. Two weeks after MI, hearts were isolated and perfused with a Krebs' buffer and their functional responses to step-wise elevation of left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) were assessed. In histological analysis, proliferating cells and bone marrow-derived cells were identified by antibodies against Ki-67 and c-kit and organization of collagen was examined by picrosirius red staining. The mRNA levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta(1), collagen type I and collagen type III were measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. 3. Numbers of Ki-67- and c-kit-positive cells in the infarct border zone after MI were increased by CSF treatment, but few of those cells were stained by anti-alpha-sarcomeric actin. The levels in mRNA of TGF-beta1 and collagen type I in the infarct border zone were higher in the CSF-treated group compared with the MI group. Although CSF treatment did not reduce ventricular hypertrophy or infarct size at 2 weeks after MI, it did significantly improved the response of left ventricular developed pressure to step-wise elevation of LVEDP. This effect was mimicked by treatment with M-CSF alone. The functional improvement by CSF treatment was correlated with suppression of enlargement of the infarct-non-infarct border associated with infarct expansion. Collagen fibres in the border zone were thicker and orientated more orderly in the CSF-treated group than in the untreated group. 4. The results suggest that G-CSF/M-CSF treatment improves contractile function of the ventricle after infarction, presumably by acceleration of infarct repair and suppression of remodelling in the border zone.