Growth hormone (GH) exerts a biphasic effect on the membrane transport of amino acids and sugars in diaphragms from hypophysectomized rats. A stimulatory (insulin-like) effect of GH is observed for approximately 3 hr after the administration of the hormone, and then the diaphragm becomes "refractory" to further administration of the hormone for 24-48 hr. In the present study the in vitro responsiveness of diaphragms from young normal rats of different ages to bovine growth hormone (bGH) was studied by measuring the accumulation of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB), cycloleucine, and 3-0-methyl-glucose (3-OMG) and by determining the incorporation of phenylalanine into diaphragm proteins. bGH increased the uptake of AIB in 6, 10, 14, 18, and 22-day old and of cycloleucine in 10, 14, and 18-day old rats, respectively. The maximal stimulatory effect was seen in 18-day old rats and no effects were seen in 26 and 30-day old animals. A similar pattern of age-related responsiveness was also seen when the uptake of 3-OMG and the incorporation of phenylalanine were studied. The rate of accumulation of the nonutilizable amino acids, as well as the rate of incorporation of phenylalanine, decreased markedly with age. Fasting the rats for 20 hr did not change the principal age-related responsiveness of AIB transport to GH, but the magnitude of the hormone effect increased due to a lower uptake of AIB in control diaphragms. bGH had a dose-dependent effect on the accumulation of AIB in fasted 18-day old rats, the threshold concentration of bGH being 0.1 mug/ml. When diaphragms from 18-day old rats were incubated with bGH for various periods, the uptake of AIB was stimulated between 0 and 60 and 120 and 180 min, but not between 60 and 120 min after the start of the incubation. This observation indicated that the muscles were "refractory" to GH between 60 and 120 min. Preincubation of diaphragms from 21-day old rats with bGH for 3 hr did not inhibit the stimulatory effect of bGH added subsequently indicating that the duration of the "refractory phase" did not exceed 270 min in this group of rats. When diaphragms from fasted rats of different ages were preincubated in Krebs bicarbonate buffer for 3 hr, a stimulatory effect of bGH on AIB uptake was also observed in 26 and 30-day old rats, possibly because the influence of endogenous GH subsided during the preincubation period. These results suggest that diaphragms from "old" normal rats are insensitive to exogenous GH because the "refractory phases" become considerably prolonged with age.