Our laboratory has previously shown that insulin inhibits the secretion of newly-synthesized and immunoreactive apo B from rat hepatocytes. We have also shown that apo B is secreted as a phosphoprotein and that phosphorylation is increased in hypoinsulinemic nonketotic diabetes. The present studies were conducted to determine whether the ability of insulin to inhibit apo B secretion is related to alterations in apo B turnover and whether insulin itself affects apo B phosphorylation. Pulse-chase studies with [35S]methionine in primary cultures of hepatocytes from normal rats in the absence and presence of insulin show that the secretion of apo B100 and apo B48 are inhibited by insulin and that this inhibition may be due in part to enhanced intracellular degradation. In addition, there is a second intracellular apo B48 pool which is not insulin regulated or degraded. In experiments in which hepatocytes were incubated with [32P]orthophosphate, insulin decreased 32P incorporation into apo B100 (42%) with only small effects on apo B48 (11%). The small insulin effect on apo B48 may relate to an insulin-insensitive apo B48 intracellular pool. These studies show that insulin can affect the intracellular turnover, secretion, degradation, and phosphorylation of apo B and emphasize the differential regulation of apo B100 and apo B48 with regard to these parameters in rat liver.