Body and excrement extracts from Dermatophagoides farinae were used to study stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs). The excrement extract stimulated nuclear factor (NF)-κB-dependent reporter activity to an extent similar to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in a mouse macrophage cell line, J774A.1, but the activity of the body extract was negligible. The excrement extract also activated NF-κB in HEK293 cells expressing TLR1/TLR2, TLR2/TLR6 and CD14/TLR4/MD-2, whereas no activation was observed in cells expressing TLR3, TLR5, TLR7, TLR8 or TLR9. Although the excrement extract required co-expression of CD14, TLR4 and MD-2 in HEK293 cells to activate NF-κB, efficient activation was still observed in I-13.35 cells, a bone-marrow macrophage cell line established from LPS-hypo-responsive C3H/HeJ mice. The excrement extract activated NF-κB in HEK293 cells expressing TLR2 alone, but the activation was significantly increased by co-expression of CD14. Polymyxin B inhibited CD14/TLR4/MD-2- and CD14/TLR2-mediated activation of NF-κB but not the activation in I-13.35 cells. These results indicate that CD14/TLR4/MD-2-dependent and CD14/TLR2-dependent mechanisms are involved in the activation of NF-κB by the excrement extract of D. farinae and suggest that the extract also contains substances that activate NF-κB through non-TLR-mediated mechanisms.