Data in this report determined the effect of a single injection of recombinant interleukin 1 alpha (rIL-1) prior to irradiation of B6D2F1 mice on the recovery of colony-forming cells (CFC) at early and late times after sublethal and lethal doses of radiation. Injection of rIL-1 promoted an earlier recovery of mature cells in the blood and CFC in the bone marrow and spleen. For example, 8 days after 6.5 Gy irradiation, the number of CFU-E (colony-forming units-erythroid), BFU-E (burst-forming units-erythroid), and GM-CFC (granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming cells) per femur was approximately 1.5-fold higher in rIL-1-injected mice than in saline-injected mice. Also, 5, 9, and 12 days after irradiation, the number of both day 8 and day 12 CFU-S (colony-forming units-spleen) was almost twofold greater in bone marrow from rIL-1-injected mice. The earlier recovery of CFU-S in rIL-1-injected mice was not associated with an increase in the number of CFU-S that survived immediately after irradiation. Also, 7 months after irradiation, the number of CFU-S per femur of both saline- and rIL-1-injected mice was still less than 50% of normal values. Data in this report demonstrate that a single injection of rIL-1 prior to irradiation accelerates early hematopoietic recovery in irradiated mice, but does not prevent expression of radiation-induced frontend damage or long-term damage to hematopoietic tissues.