The thermic effect of amino acid administration was examined in healthy subjects. Pulmonary and splanchnic oxygen uptake, cardiac output, splanchnic blood flow, and blood temperatures were measured in eight healthy men before and during 2.5 h of intravenous infusion of 600 kJ of a mixture of 19 amino acids. Indirect calorimetry and catheter techniques were used, including thermometry in arterial and a hepatic venous blood. During the infusion, pulmonary oxygen uptake rose progressively from a basal value of 269 +/- 6 to 321 +/- 8 ml/min after 2.5 h. The splanchnic oxygen consumption increased from a basal level of 64 +/- 4 to a peak value of 91 +/- 7 ml/min after 2 h of infusion. The 2.5 h average splanchnic proportion of the amino acid-induced whole body thermogenesis was 51 +/- 11%. Cardiac output increased from 6.2 +/- 0.3 in the basal state to 7.3 +/- 0.4 l/min, whereas the splanchnic blood flow remained unchanged during the infusion period. The arteriohepatic venous oxygen difference increased from 51 +/- 4 in the basal state to 65 +/- 5 ml/l after 2 h of amino acid infusion. The blood temperature rose by approximately 0.25 degrees C during the amino acid infusion, reflecting an increased heat accumulation in the body. It is concluded that the splanchnic tissues account for approximately one-half of the amino acid-induced whole body thermogenesis, that amino acid infusion augments blood flow in the extrasplanchnic but not in the splanchnic tissues, and stimulates the accumulation of heat in the body most likely via a resetting of the central thermosensors.