ABSTRACTsulin pool size, h al f-life, and rate of degr a dation were calculated. Zucker lean and obese rats were injected under pen tob arbit al a n Obese r ats had hi gh er in sulin lev els (2.43 nM) a nd showed less effect esthesia with 125I-labeled insulin ; at timed interval s from 30 to 120 of norad renalin e than th eir lean coun terparts , in wh ich insul in dis sec, blood sa mples wer e ex trac te d and us ed for the estimation of tr ibu t ion volu me shran k wit h nor adr enaline trea tme n t . Th e half-life insulin levels by RIA. A group of r ats fr om each se r ies was ma intained of pla sma ins ulin was sim ila r in all gro u ps (ra nge, 226 -314 sec). P ool under a const a nt infu sion of noradren ali ne. For each insu lin deter size and overall degradation rates were higher in obese (198 fem minatio n, a duplica te blood sa mp le con t aining the sa me a mount of tok atals) th an in lean ra ts (28 ferntok atals ). It is pos tula ted th a t obes e insulin as th at used in th e RIA, bu t withou t the ra dioactive label, was r a ts syn thesize and cleave much more insu lin th a n lean controls used as a bla nk for in sulin measu rem ent. The r a dioactivi ty in t hese despite th eir highe r circulating levels of ins ulio . (Endocrinology 136: tubes was then used for th e mea s uremen tofinsulin lab el per ml blood.3871-3876 , 1995 ) From plasma la bel deca y cu rves and in sulin con centrations , the in-C IRCULATING insulin has, nec essarily, a shor t ha lf-life(1), becau se of its fast respon se to hyp erglycem ic cha l lenges (2), a conseque nce of its funda me n tal ro le in the ma in tenance of gly cemia (3). The insulin resp onse to increases in circulating glucago n (4), ca techo lami nes (5), or amino acids (6-8) is pr actically immediate. The ra te of removal of insulin by the liver is high (9 -11), as is the ability of p eripheral tissues to inac tiva te most of the rema ining circula ting ins ulin (l f), 12, 13). In target tissues, ins ulin is inactiva ted by int er naliza tion afte r in terac tion w ith sp ecific receptors (14). The main insulin-cleaving agen t is ins u lin:glu ta thione tran sh y drogenase (EC 1.8.4.2) (12, 15), probably in ad d ition to other enzym es (16,17). Th e ov era ll capacity of th e ma mmal for insulin remo va l and inac tiva tion is cons id era ble, as is the ability of the en docrine pancreas to release lar ge amounts of insulin on demand. All of these factor s com bine to es tablish a fast insulin turnover, su bject to w ide osci lla tions depending on physiological cond ition and enviro nm en t.Ad equa te knowledge of insulin turnove r may be im po r tant for the study of insu lin resp on ses to di fferent stim uli as well as in the understan ding of the m echanism s involved in the d evelopment of lat e-on set dia be tes, insulin resis ta nce, and obesity, situations in w hic h insulin release and the physiological res ponse to insu lin ar e altered (18 -20) .The di rect esti ma tion of ins ulin turnover is com plex, and only approximat e est im ates ar...