Very little is known about the regulation of AR gene expression in human T cells. We examined the regulation of AR synthesis by human T cells, and found that in contrast to mice, many subsets of human T cells, including CD4 and CD8, naive and memory, Th1 and Th2, all express AR in response to TCR stimulation. Factors that elevate cAMP levels synergized with TCR stimulation to enhance AR expression, while inhibiting expression of most inflammatory cytokines. Thus in human T cells, AR production is regulated strongly by the environmental context during stimulation, but not restricted to particular precommitted effector subsets of T cells.