DR. Effect of weight loss on lactate transporter expression in skeletal muscle of obese subjects. J Appl Physiol 104: 633-638, 2008. First published December 13, 2007 doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00681.2007.-The effects of weight loss on skeletal muscle lactate transporter [monocarboxylate transporter (MCT)] expression in obese subjects were investigated to better understand how lactate transporter metabolism is regulated in insulin-resistant states. Ten obese subjects underwent non-macronutrient-specific energy restriction for 15 wk. Anthropometric measurements and a needle biopsy of the vastus lateralis muscle before and after the weight loss program were performed. Enzymatic activity, fiber type distribution, and skeletal muscle MCT protein expression were measured. Muscle from nonobese control subjects was used for comparison of MCT levels. The program induced a weight loss of 9.2 Ϯ 1.6 kg. Compared with controls, muscle from obese subjects showed a strong tendency (P ϭ 0.06) for elevated MCT4 expression (ϩ69%) before the weight loss program. MCT4 expression decreased (Ϫ7%) following weight loss to reach levels that were not statistically different from control levels. There were no differences in MCT1 expression between controls and obese subjects before and after weight loss. A highly predictive regression model (R 2 ϭ 0.93), including waist circumference, citrate synthase activity, and percentage of type 1 fibers, was found to explain the highly variable MCT1 response to weight loss in the obese group. Therefore, in obesity, MCT1 expression appears linked both to changes in oxidative parameters and to changes in visceral adipose tissue content. The strong tendency for elevated expression of muscle MCT4 could reflect the need to release greater amounts of muscle lactate in the obese state, a situation that would be normalized with weight loss as indicated by decreased MCT4 levels. monocarboxylate transporters; lactate transport; diet THE PREVALENCE OF OBESITY and associated comorbidities is increasing (30,40), underscoring the importance of developing effective strategies for reducing obesity and the risk of metabolic disease linked to insulin resistance. Diet-induced weight loss can promote significant improvement in clinical and metabolic parameters (14,19) and plays a role in the prevention of Type 2 diabetes. This therapeutic approach can also act at the cellular level, improving glucose metabolism. For example, Dean et al. (6) showed that dietary restriction could increase insulin-stimulated glucose transport by enhancing the proportion of GLUT-4 at the muscle cell surface.It has been shown that in insulin-resistant states there is an increase in plasma lactate levels at rest (22). Lactate and glucose are closely related since the former is an intermediate metabolite of the latter, and hyperlactatemia has been recognized as an independent risk factor for the development and aggravation of insulin resistance (31). Moreover, lactate is now recognized as an important substrate for ATP production in several...