Changes in plasma glucose, hepatic cyclic AMP, glycogen and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (F-2,6-P2), and liver 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase (6-PF-2kinase), fructose 2,6-bisphosphatase (F-2,6-P2ase) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) activities were examined in rats fed a low protein, high carbohydrate (HC) diet during 3 d of either starvation or feeding a high protein, carbohydrate-free (HP) diet. Under both HP feeding or starvation, liver cyclic AMP increased after 1 d and remained constant thereafter. Whereas plasma glucose was low during starvation, it was unaffected by HP feeding. In both experimental groups, liver glycogen fell after 1 d; thereafter it remained low on starvation, but increased progressively on HP diet reaching 70% of the HC-fed rats value on day 3. Under both experimental conditions, F-2,6-P2 fell 85% after day 1 and was unchanged thereafter. One day after the start of starvation or consumption of the HP diet, 6-PF-2kinase decreased, F-2,6-P2ase increased and 6-PF-2kinase/F-2,6-P2ase ratio decreased, but changes were significantly more important with the HP diet than with starvation. PEPCK activity increased in both experimental conditions, but the increase was greater on the HP diet than on starvation. These findings suggest that during the first 3 d the adaptative response of hepatic gluconeogenesis is higher with a HP diet than upon starvation.