The Fallopian tube provides the environment for early embryo growth, a process that is influenced by insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) in the tubal fluid. Whether the bio-availability of tubal IGFs is modulated by locally produced IGF-binding protein-1 is not clear. An explant culture system from human Fallopian tube mucosa was therefore developed enabling the potential for IGFBP-1 production by this tissue to be examined directly. Initial characterization of the system established that the explants maintained responsiveness to steroids. The presence of mRNA for IGFBP-1 was established within the explants by the use of quantitative RT-PCR, and IGFBP-1 protein measured by ELISA. Although insulin and estradiol had no consistent effect on IGFBP-1, addition of progesterone had a significant inhibitory effect on IGFBP-1 production, both at the mRNA and protein level.  We suggest that progesterone might, therefore, play a role in controlling the bio-availability of IGFs to the embryo during early development within the Fallopian tube.