Additive effects of prior exercise and insulin on glucose and AIB uptake by rat muscle

After exercise of moderate intensity the ability of insulin to stimulate the uptake of glucose and alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) in perfused rat muscle is enhanced in a parallel fashion. The present study was designed to examine the effect of intense exercise on the subsequent uptake of these substrates. For this purpose, rats fed ad libitum were run on a treadmill for 50 min at high intensity and glucose and AIB uptake by muscle were then assessed in the isolated perfused hindquarter preparation. In confirmation of previous studies, 30 min after such exercise the absolute rate of glucose uptake in the presence of 20,000 microU/ml of insulin was greater due to additive effects of insulin and prior exercise. A novel finding was that 150 min postexercise the rate of glucose uptake was still increased in the presence of a supramaximal concentration of insulin, but entirely due to an increase in insulin responsiveness. The uptake of AIB and its response to insulin in general paralleled that of glucose. The results indicate that both glucose and AIB uptake by skeletal muscle in the presence of a supramaximal concentration of insulin are increased after intense exercise. They suggest that this is initially due to an additive effect of insulin and exercise and later due to an increase in insulin responsiveness. The findings are compatible with the notion that after exercise insulin is able to recruit or activate glucose (and possibly AIB) transporters in muscle, that it does not affect in the resting state.