We have previously reported that insulin can enhance endogenous noradrenergic activity in vitro in the rat CNS. In the present study, we examined one potential mechanism underlying this effect: the ability of insulin to inhibit norepinephrine (NE) reuptake and secondarily increase its synaptic concentration. Acute (20 min) insulin treatment (0.1-10 nM) significantly inhibited specific 3H-norepinephrine uptake by rat hypothalamic slices. To ascertain whether this is a direct effect of insulin on cells that can synthesize and release norepinephrine, we studied NE uptake by the rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cell line. In PC12 cells, insulin (0.5-10 nM) inhibited NE uptake whereas the related peptide, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), did not. Insulin did not compete with 3H-mazindol (a ligand for the NE reuptake transporter) binding to PC12 cell membranes. Thus, this effect of insulin is not due to interaction with either IGF-1 receptors or the norepinephrine transporter, but may be due to insulin interaction with its own receptor. Chronic (96-h) insulin treatment of PC12 cells also resulted in an inhibition of 3H-norepinephrine uptake, and membranes prepared from cells chronically treated with insulin bound less 3H-desipramine than control membranes. Thus, chronic insulin treatment may result in a decrease in the numbers of membrane-associated transporters. We conclude that insulin has a direct and physiological role in the modulation of synaptic norepinephrine levels by modulating reuptake by cells that synthesize and release norepinephrine.