ROLE OF MUSCLE IN TRIGLYCERIDE-METABOLISM

It has long been recognized that skeletal muscle can contain modest st ores of triglyceride and that this depot of fuel can make a major cont ribution to energy production during exercise. More recently, an adver se effect of muscle triglyceride has begun to be defined within the co ntext of insulin resistance. Animal and clinical investigations have r evealed a significant relation between increased muscle triglyceride a nd insulin resistance, at least among mostly sedentary individuals. Th ese observations have stimulated the development, or at least the refi nement, of new methodologies to assess this aspect of 'regional' fat d eposition. In parallel, there has also been important new work designe d to enable better understanding of the factors that regulate muscle t riglyceride and to determine whether fatty acids taken up by skeletal muscle are oxidized or stored, and how these pathways might be either altered by the presence of insulin resistance or, in turn, contribute to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. Curr Opin Lipidol 9:231-236 . (C) 1998 Lippincott-Raven Publishers.