In pulmonary sarcoidosis, differential cytokine production in the lungs could be related to variable prognosis of patients at different stages of disease. Twenty patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis (10 at radiographic stage I and 10 at stages II-IV), as well as 10 age-matched healthy volunteers participated in the study. A 4-colour flow cytometric technique was used to measure interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-2, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-4, and IL-13 production in phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)/ionomycin-stimulated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and peripheral blood (PB) of patients, and PB of control subjects. CD4+ T cells from patients showed higher expression of IFN-γ in BALF than in PB. Significant correlations were observed between the percentages of BALF CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing intracellular IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α. Stage I patients had lower percentages of IFN-γ-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, as well as TNF-α-producing CD8+ T cells, in BALF (but not in PB) than stage II-IV patients. A decreased TH1 and TC1 response was demonstrated in BALF of patients at stage I of disease, which could explain their anticipated better prognosis.