The influence of postprandial-like plasma insulin levels on intestinal calcium absorption (CaA) was studied in 9 healthy men. On separate occasions, they received either an i.v. infusion of 40 mU/m2 minute synthetic human insulin as well as a variable glucose infusion in order to clamp the plasma glucose at the baseline level (= glucose clamp), or insulin- and glucose-free vehicle infusions (= vehicle). During these infusions, an oral load containing 326 mg Ca in the form of Ca chloride was administered and CaA was determined thereafter with a 47Ca/85Sr double tracer method. During glucose clamp, mean plasma insulin was 172 +/- (1 SEM) 10 as compared to 6 +/- 1 microU/ml during vehicle infusions. During the clamp, 3-hour cumulative CaA rose significantly by 14% as compared to vehicle (39.2 +/- 2.5 vs. 34.4 +/- 2%, P less than 0.02). AT the same time, serum potassium and phosphorus dropped significantly, whereas serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) and 1,25(OH)2D levels were unchanged as compared to vehicle. The urinary excretions of potassium, sodium, and inorganic phosphorus, as well as the urinary specific activity of 47Ca, dropped significantly during glucose clamp, whereas the urinary excretion of cAMP was unchanged as compared to vehicle. The results suggest that, under the conditions of euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp, insulin stimulates CaA of healthy humans in a PTH- and 1,25(OH)2D-independent manner. Insulin may thus possibly be regarded as a factor participating in the regulation of CaA in humans.