The purpose of the current study was to design, validate and implement a novel analytical method for the simultaneous plasma measurement of iopamidol and p-aminohippuric acid (PAH) to estimate renal function in awake rats. A reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method for the simultaneous measurement of iopamidol (for glomerular filtration rate estimation, GFR) and PAH (for tubular secretion determination, TS) was designed and validated using a C-18 column, 0.1M acetic acid-10% acetonitrile (90:10, v/v) as mobile phase, at a flow rate of 0.3 ml/min, and UV detection at 270 nm. Iopamidol (244.8 mg/kg) was administered intravenously followed immediately by sodium PAH (100 mg/kg) to healthy female Sprague-Dawley rats. Plasma samples obtained at 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min after drug administration were deproteinized with 2.5% trichloroacetic acid containing p-aminobenzoic acid as internal standard, and separated by the validated RP-HPLC method described above. The iopamidol and PAH chromatographic data were analyzed using a non-compartmental model. The results demonstrated that the RP-HPLC method was linear in ranges between 15-120 μg/ml and 2.5-120 μg/ml for iopamidol and PAH, respectively. Precision and accuracy were within 15% for both drugs. Recovery of iopamidol and PAH was 92% and 100%, respectively. Plasma iopamidol and PAH clearances in awake rats, estimates for GFR and TS, respectively, were 1.49±0.20 ml/min and 3.73±0.38 ml/min. In conclusion, the method here described is a simple and reliable procedure, for the simultaneous and time-saving determination of GFR and TS from plasma samples in the conscious rat. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.