Six ruminally cannulated Holstein steers (initial BW = 189 +/- 11 kg) housed in metabolism crates were used in a 6 x 6 Latin square to study effects of ruminal ammonia load on Leu utilization. All steers received a diet based on soybean hulls (2.7 kg of DM/d), ruminal infusions of 200 g of acetate/d, 200 g of propionate/d, and 50 g of butyrate/d, as well as an abomasal infusion of 300 g of glucose/d to provide energy without increasing microbial protein supply and an abomasal infusion of a mixture (238 g/d) of all essential AA except Leu. Treatments were arranged as a 3 x 2 factorial and included Leu (0, 4, or 8 g/d) infused abomasally and urea (0 or 80 g/d) infused ruminally. Abomasal Leu infusion linearly decreased (P < 0.05) both urinary and fecal N excretions and linearly increased (P < 0.05) retained N, but the decreases in urinary N excretion in response to Leu tended (P = 0.07) to be greater, and the increases in retained N in response to Leu were numerically greater in the presence of the urea infusion. Although urea infusions increased (P < 0.05) plasma urea concentrations, urinary N excretions, and urinary urea excretions, retained N also was increased (P < 0.05). The efficiency of deposition of supplemental Leu ranged from 24 to 43% when steers received 0 or 80 g of urea/d, respectively. Under our experimental conditions, increasing ammonia load improved whole-body protein deposition in growing steers when Leu supply was limiting.