Clearance experiments were performed in acutely thyroparathyroidectomized rats to evaluate the renal handling of phosphate during respiratory acidosis (R ACID) and alkalosis (R ALK) in rats fed either a normal (0.7%) or low (0.07%) phosphate diet for 4 days. Different acid-base states were achieved by varying the mixture of carbon dioxide in the inspired air. Each group received graded infusions of phosphate to control for differences in plasma phosphate (PPi) and to determine the maximum transport capacity of phosphate reabsorption (TmPi/GFR). In rats fed a normal phosphate diet, PPi and the fractional excretion of phosphate (FEPi) were significantly greater in R ACID than in R ALK. However, there were no differences between R ACID and R ALK when FEPi was evaluated as a function of the PPi, and values for TmPi/GFR during R ACID were not different from those during R ALK. In rats fed low phosphate diet, PPi during R ACID was significantly greater than during R ALK, yet FEPi was less than 1% in all groups due to an adaptive increase in TmPi/GFR. Further, the TmPi/GFR was similar irrespective of the acid-base state. We conclude that acute respiratory acid-base changes do not alter the intrinsic capacity of the kidney to reabsorb phosphate.