The Glucose Fatty Acid Cycle as formulated 30 years ago and reviewed i
n the Minkowski lecture in 1966 described short term effects of fatty
acids (minutes) to decrease uptake, glycolysis and oxidation of glucos
e in heart and skeletal muscles. Such short term effects have since be
en extended to include inhibition of glucose uptake and glycolysis and
stimulation of gluconeogenesis in liver and these effects have also b
een convincingly demonstrated in man in vivo. More recently a longer t
erm effect of fatty acid metabolism to decrease glucose oxidation (hou
rs) has been shown in heart and skeletal muscle and Liver. This effect
increases the specific activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase, whi
ch in turn results in enhanced phosphorylation and inactivation of the
pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. Activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenas
e complex is the major determinant of glucose oxidation rate. It seems
likely that longer term effects of fatty acids on this and other aspe
cts of glucose metabolism could be important in the development of ins
ulin resistance in diabetes mellitus in man.