The need for young, immature rats to maintain positive phosphate balance for growth is well recognized. However, whether this process is associated with a resistance to the phosphaturic effect of parathyroid hormone (PTH) is not clear. In these experiments we examined the effect of PTH on urinary phosphate and cAMP excretion in rats at 3, 6, 12, and 20 wk of age. Clearance experiments were performed in acutely thyroparathyroidectomized (TPTX) rats fed a normal phosphate diet (0.86%). Basal fractional excretion of phosphate (FEPi) was low in all TPTX rats (less than 1%). The phosphaturic response to a high dose of PTH (1 U X kg-1 X min-1) increased with development (from 4 to 29%). The responses to increasing doses of PTH demonstrated a decrease in sensitivity to PTH in 6- compared with 20-wk-old rats. Urinary cAMP excretion (either per milliliter glomerular filtrate or per gram kidney weight) following PTH was not different among 6-, 12-, and 20-wk-old rats, thus demonstrating a dissociation between the increase in phosphate excretion and cAMP excretion. These results indicate that the phosphaturic response to PTH is blunted in immature, acutely TPTX rats and that the phosphaturia increases progressively with development.