The aim of this work was to develop an in vitro model suitable for studying insulin secretion in amphibians and for identifying agents capable of either blocking or stimulating such a process in this group. For this purpose, pancreases from the toad Bufo arenarum were incubated for 60 min at 25 degrees with several insulin secretagogues and blockers, and the immunoreactive insulin released into the medium was measured by radioimmunoassay. Under these experimental conditions, metabolic (glucose, ketoisocaproic acid, and arginine) and nonmetabolic (K+ and tolbutamide) agents as well as glucagon and acetylcholine significantly stimulated the release of immunoreactive insulin. Conversely, somatostatin and nifedipine blocked its secretion. All these agents exerted similar effects on the mammalian pancreas. These results prove that our model is a useful tool with which to study in vitro insulin secretion in amphibians and to identify agents which affect hormone release in this group.