To examine the role of the kidney in the mechanism of impaired metabolic clearance of glucagon in renal failure, the renal handling of endogenous pancreatic glucagon was studied in rats with normal renal function and rats with renal insufficiency produced by 70% surgical ablation. Mean +/- SE renal extraction of glucagon in animals with normal renal function was 39 +/- 5%. Urinary losses of glucagon accounted for less than 2% of renal extraction. In contrast, in the animals with renal insufficiency (glomerular filtration rate reduced to one-third of normal), arterial glucagon increased 40% and renal extraction and extraction rate per gram kidney weight of glucagon were negligible, despite filtered loads of 204 +/- 42 pg/min per g kidney wt. These findings indicate a major role of the kidney in the metabolic clearance of glucagon under normal conditions and suggest that during renal insufficiency elevated plasma levels of glucagon occur, at least in part, as a result of a decreased renal turnover of the hormone.