Summary.To evaluate the role of abnormal glucagon physiology in the glucose intolerance of aging, we have examined: (1) basal glucagon concentration, (2) suppression of plasma glucagon by hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinaemia, (3) plasma glucagon response to intravenous alanine, (4) glucagon kinetics, and (5) hepatic sensitivity to glucagon (3 ng. kg -1. min -1 for 3 h) using 3-3H-glucose in young (24___ 1 years), middleaged (41 _ 2 years), and older (62_ 2 years) subjects. Fasting plasma glucagon levels in 58young, 21middle-aged, and 32 older subjects were 89 + 10, 91 _+ 12, and 96 + 21 pg/ml, respectively (p = NS). Following elevation of plasma glucose to 2.2-6.9 mmol/1 above basal for 2 h (hyperglycaemic clamp technique), young, middle-aged, and older subjects showed similar depressions in plasma glucagon levels during all three studies. Elevation of the plasma insulin concentration to approximately 100 mU/1 while maintaining euglycaemia (insulin clamp technique) also resulted in a similar decline in plasma glucagon levels in both young and older subjects (by 25 + 3 and 27 + 3 pg/ml respectively). Following intravenous alanine infusion, the increase in plasma glucagon was not significantly different in young compared with older subjects (65 _+ 16 versus 38 + 7 pg/ml). Plasma insulin (7 + 1 versus 8 + 1 mU/1) and glucose (0.33 + 0.11 versus 0.50 + 0.11 mmol/1) responses were comparable in young and older subjects. During continuous glucagon infusion, the steady-state plasma glucagon concentration (267 +_ 32 versus 252_+ 12 pg/ml) and the metabolic clearance rate of glucagon (16+1 versus 15_+1 mlkg-1. min-1) were similar in young and older subjects. However, the increase in plasma glucose concentration was significantly greater in the older than young subjects (/x = 1.t7 + 0.11 versus 0.67 +0.06 mmol/1, p<0.01). Basal glucose production in older subjects (0.t 3 _+ 0.01 mmol-kg-l, rain-1) was slightly less than in the young (0.15+0.01mmol.kg -1. rain-l). However, the rise in glucose production following glucagon was significantly greater in older than young subjects (31 + 5 versus 18 + 4%, p < 0.05). In conclusion, (1) basal glucagon levels are not consistently elevated in older subjects, (2) glucagon suppression by both hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinaemia is similar in young and older subjects, (3) a cell sensitivity to alanine is not affected by age, (4) the metabolic clearance rate of glucagon is similar in young and older subjects, and (5) hepatic sensitivity to a physiological increment in plasma glucagon is increased in older subjects.Key words: Glucagon, aging, glucose tolerance, insulin clamp, hyperglycaemic clamp.The decline in glucose tolerance with advancing age is well established [1][2][3][4][5], but the mechanisms underlying this deterioration are unclear. Recently, both Berger et al. [6] and Marco et al. [7] have reported, in preliminary studies, higher fasting glucagon levels in healthy subjects over the age of 60 years compared to subjects in their twenties. Marco et al. [7] also documented imp...