We have perfused isolated rat livers with hypocalcemic (4.4 mg 100 ml) Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate albumin buffer. After 15 min of perfusion, a substance appeared in the perfusate which decreased rat renal adenylate cyclase activation by parathyroid hormone (PTH). The material in the perfusate was purified greater than 50,000-fold by Bio-Gel P-10 chromatography. The purified antagonist decreased the activation of rat renal cortical adenylate cyclase by PTH, glucagon, and epinephrine 75 to 100%. Concentration response curves for each of the hormones indicated a noncompetitive interaction of the inhibitor with the hormone. The inhibition was not species-specific, as the activation of the parathyroid hormone-responsive adenylate cyclase in cat renal cortex was also abolished by the inhibitor from the perfused rat liver. The inhibitor is a peptide, Mr equal to similar to 1000, which is heat-stable, acid-stable, alkai-labile, and is destroyed by trypsin, leucine aminopeptidase, and elastase. It is not destroyed by phosphodiesterase, 5'-nucleotidase, alkaline phosphatase, neuraminidase, RNase, or phospholipase A. The inhibitor is not produced by isolated rat livers perfused with normocalcemic perfusion media. It is unclear whether the peptide is synthesized by the liver or whether it is a breakdown product of a larger peptide or protein in the liver. This is the first reported peptide inhibitor of adenylate cyclase.