Nielsen S. Kinetics and utilization of lipid sources during acute exercise and acipimox. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 307: E199 -E208, 2014. First published June 3, 2014 doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00043.2014.-Overweight is associated with abnormalities of lipid metabolism, many of which are reversed by exercise. We investigated the impact of experimental antilipolysis and acute exercise on lipid kinetics and oxidation from VLDL-TG, plasma FFA, and "residual lipids" in overweight men (n ϭ 8) using VLDL-TG and palmitate tracers in combination with muscle biopsies in a randomized, placebo-controlled design. Participants received placebo or acipimox on each study day (4 h of rest, 90 min of exercise at 50% V O2 max). Exercise suppressed VLDL-TG secretion significantly during placebo but not acipimox (placebo-rest: 64.2 Ϯ 9.4; placebo-exercise: 48.3 Ϯ 8.0; acipimox-rest: 55.2 Ϯ 13.4; acipimoxexercise: 52.0 Ϯ 10.9). Resting oxidation of VLDL-TG FA and FFA was significantly reduced during acipimox compared with placebo, whereas "residual lipid oxidation" increased significantly [VLDL-TG oxidation (placebo: 18 Ϯ 3 kcal/h; acipimox: 11 Ϯ 2 kcal/h), FFA oxidation (placebo: 14 Ϯ 2 kcal/h; acipimox: 4 Ϯ 0.5 kcal/h), and residual lipid oxidation (placebo: 3 Ϯ 5 kcal/h; acipimox: 14 Ϯ 5 kcal/h)]. Additionally, during exercise on both placebo and acipimox, oxidation of VLDL-TG and FFA increased, but the relative contribution to total lipid oxidation diminished, except for FFA, which remained unchanged during acipimox. Residual lipid oxidation increased significantly during exercise in both absolute and relative terms. Changes in selected cellular enzymes and proteins provided no explanations for kinetic changes. In conclusion, suppressed FFA availability blunts the effect of exercise on VLDL-TG secretion and modifies the contribution of lipid sources for oxidation. very low-density lipoprotein; exercise; antilipolysis; lipid oxidation OVERWEIGHT IS ASSOCIATED with proatherogenic abnormalities of lipid metabolism. The alterations reflect reduced insulin suppression of both hepatic very low-density lipoprotein triglyceride (VLDL-TG) secretion and adipose tissue lipolysis, leading to greater plasma triglycerides (TG) and free fatty acid (FFA) concentrations (30). Many of these abnormalities are reversed by physical exercise (21). During low-to moderateintensity exercise, fasting lipid oxidation accounts for ϳ50% of energy expenditure (EE) (25,33,46), and the major sources are plasma FFA, intramyocellular lipids (IML), and VLDL-TG fatty acids (FA). Plasma FFA oxidation (19), measured isotopically (15), increases rapidly during exercise. Conversely, measurements of VLDL-TG oxidation are methodologically challenging (24) and have been calculated mostly from regional A-V concentration differences (19); however, these differences cannot differentiate between tissue oxidation and storage, and IML oxidation has usually been calculated indirectly by subtracting plasma FFA oxidation from total lipid oxidation measured by indirect calorimetry (...