Diabetes mellitus is associated with decreased nitric oxide bioavailability thereby affecting renal blood flow regulation. Previous reports have demonstrated that cellular uptake of L-arginine is rate limiting for nitric oxide production, and that plasma L-arginine concentration is decreased in diabetes. We therefore investigated if regional renal blood flow regulation is affected by cellular L-arginine uptake in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Rats were anesthetized with thiobutabarbital and left kidney was exposed. Total, cortical and medullary renal blood flow was investigated before and after renal artery infusion of increasing doses of either L-homoarginine to inhibit cellular uptake of L-arginine, or L-NAME to inhibit nitric oxide synthase. L-homoarginine infusion did not affect total or cortical blood flow in any of the groups, but caused a dose-dependent reduction in medullary blood flow. L-NAME decreased total, cortical and medullary blood flow in both groups. However, the reductions in medullary blood flow in response to both L-homoarginine and L-NAME were more pronounced in the control groups compared to the diabetic groups. Isolated cortical tubular cells displayed similar L-arginine uptake capacity whereas medullary tubular cells isolated from diabetic rats had increased L-arginine uptake capacity. Diabetics had reduced L-arginine concentrations in plasma and medullary tissue but increased L-arginine concentration in cortical tissue. In conclusion, the reduced L-arginine availability in plasma and medullary tissue in diabetes results in reduced nitric oxide-mediated regulation of renal medullary hemodynamics. Cortical blood flow regulation displays less dependency on extracellular L-arginine and the upregulated cortical tissue L-arginine may protect cortical hemodynamics in diabetes.