The pulmonary deposition and pharmacokinetics of human growth hormone (hGH), administered by aerosol and instillate, in formulations containing 99mTc-DTPA (for gamma scintigraphic imaging) have been studied in five male New Zealand White rabbits. Gamma scintigraphy indicated that the peripheral:central deposition tended to be greater for aerosol (1.54) than for instillate (0.8). Two gamma scintigraphic methods were used to quantify dose deposited by aerosol, which permitted bioavailabilities to be determined. The bioavailable fraction for aerosolized hGH (45%) was greater than for instilled hGH (16%). This was attributed to the differential effects of mucociliary clearance. Absorption rate limited pharmacokinetics prevailed for both hGH formulations with post-peak half-lives approximately 10-fold greater than the intravenous elimination half-life of 40 min. Apparent absorption rate constants resulting from instillation and aerosolization were equivalent (0.0012 min-1 and 0.0020 min-1 respectively), however lung-to-blood transfer rate constants for aerosol delivery (0.00071 min-1) were greater than for instillation (0.00018 min-1).