Phosphate depletion (PD) in vivo causes a sundry of abnormalities in pancreatic islets including a rise in cytosolic calcium, low ATP content, reduced Ca2+ ATPase and Na(+)-K+ ATPase activity, and impaired insulin secretion in response to glucose or potassium. L-Leucine is a strong secretagogue that triggers insulin secretion by deamination to alpha-ketoisocaproic acid (KIC) and the subsequent metabolism of the latter to ATP and by the activation of glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), which acts on glutamate to generate alpha-ketoglutarate, the metabolism of which results in ATP production. The generation of ATP triggers events that lead to insulin secretion. It is not known whether PD impairs leucine-induced insulin secretion, and the cellular derangements that are involved in such an abnormality are not defined. These issues were studied in PD rats and in pair-weighed normal animals as controls. D-Leucine uptake by islets from PD rats is normal, but both leucine- and KIC-induced insulin secretions are impaired and the activity of branched-chain keto acid dehydrogenase, which facilitates the metabolism of KIC, is reduced. Both leucine and 2-aminobicyclo (2-2-1) haptene failed to stimulate GLDH and to augment the generation of alpha-ketoglutarate in the islets of PD rats. Also, the concentration of basal alpha-ketoglutarate was significantly higher in the islets of PD rats, suggesting that its metabolism is impaired. In addition, the activity of glutaminase is significantly reduced, an abnormality that would result in decreased production of glutamate, the substrate for GLDH. The data show that PD impairs leucine-induced insulin secretion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)