To assess whether the beneficial effects of salicylates compounds and sulfonylureas on insulin secretion in patients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus could be ascribed to inhibition of prostaglandin E (PGE) synthesis, insulin responses to iv glucose pulses were determined in diabetic patients during infusion of lysine acetylsalicylate (LAS) or tolbutamide, with or without a concurrent infusion of PGE2. In these diabetic patients, the augmenting effects of LAS on glucose-induced insulin secretion were abolished by PGE2 infusion. Partial restoration by tolbutamide infusion of the first and second phases of glucose-induced insulin secretion was not affected by the administration of PGE2. The stimulatory effects of LAS and tolbutamide on insulin secretion were additive, suggesting separate mechanisms of action. Since salicylates and sulfonylureas lower plasma glucose concentrations, we also evaluated whether prevention of the fall in the prestimulus glucose level could result in a further amplification of insulin release. Resetting the prestimulus glucose level to control values by infusing glucose caused a further increase in the second, but not the first, phase of glucose-induced insulin secretion, indicating that the prestimulus glucose level had a role in regulating subsequent insulin release. These results indicate that salicylates, but not sulfonylureas, exert their acute insulinotropic effect in noninsulin-dependent diabetic patients by inhibiting endogenous PGE synthesis and support the idea that endogenous PGE may play a role in the impaired insulin response to glucose in this form of human diabetes.