The role of glucagon in the regulation of blood glucose in fed and fasted anesthetized rats was studied by injecting intravenously 4 ml/kg of a high-capacity (40 nmol/ml) high-affinity (0.6 x 10(11) mol/l) monoclonal glucagon antibody. Blood glucose was lowered by the antibody by 2 mmol/l in fed rats but remained unchanged in 10- and 48-h-fasted rats. Antibody injection significantly reduced plasma insulin in both fed and 10-h-fasted rats. In 10-h-fasted rats, propranolol injection decreased blood glucose by 0.6 mmol/l, and combined with antibody administration, a decrease by 1.1 mmol/l was observed. Blood glucose was never < 3.3 mmol/l. Thus glucagon is partly responsible for maintenance of euglycemia in fed rats, whereas during fasting it plays a limited role. However, immunoneutralization of glucagon reduces insulin secretion irrespective of blood glucose. Additional mechanisms seem to be responsible for the maintenance of blood glucose in the fasting state when glucagon and the sympathoadrenergic system are blocked.