Arias EB, Cartee GD. In vitro simulation of calorie restrictioninduced decline in glucose and insulin leads to increased insulinstimulated glucose transport in rat skeletal muscle. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 293: E1782-E1788, 2007. First published October 9, 2007; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00531.2007.-In vivo calorie restriction [CR; consuming 60% of ad libitum (AL) intake] induces elevated insulin-stimulated glucose transport (GT) in skeletal muscle. The mechanisms triggering this adaptation are unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether physiological reductions in extracellular glucose and/or insulin, similar to those found with in vivo CR, were sufficient to elevate GT in isolated muscles. Epitrochlearis muscles dissected from rats were incubated for 24 h in media with glucose (8 mM) and insulin (80 U/ml) at levels similar to plasma values of AL-fed rats and compared with muscles incubated with glucose (5.5 mM) and/or insulin (20 U/ml) at levels similar to plasma values of CR rats. Muscles incubated with CR levels of glucose and insulin for 24 h had a subsequently greater (P Ͻ 0.005) GT with 80 U/ml insulin and 8 mM [3 H]-3-O-methylglucose but unchanged GT without insulin. Reducing only glucose or insulin for 24 h or both glucose and insulin for 6 h did not induce altered GT. Increased GT after 24-h incubation with CR levels of glucose and insulin was not attributable to increased insulin receptor tyrosine phosphorylation, Akt serine phosphorylation, or Akt substrate of 160 kDa phosphorylation. Nor did 24-h incubation with CR levels of glucose and insulin alter the abundance of insulin receptor, insulin receptor substrate-1, GLUT1, or GLUT4 proteins. These results provide the proof of principle that reductions in extracellular glucose and insulin, similar to in vivo CR, are sufficient to induce an increase in insulin-stimulated glucose transport comparable to the increase found with in vivo CR. diet restriction; insulin signaling; GLUT4; Akt; Akt substrate of 160 kDa ALTERED SKELETAL MUSCLE GLUCOSE transport can contribute to important systemic changes in glucose homeostasis. For example, skeletal muscle insulin resistance for glucose uptake is an early and essential defect for the subsequent development of the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus (19,20). Previous studies have demonstrated that prior exposure of skeletal muscle to large changes in extracellular glucose and insulin concentrations over a period of hours can lead to altered glucose transport. However, only a few studies have characterized the effects of moderate physiological changes in glucose on glucose transport. In cultured myocytes, increasing glucose from ϳ5 to ϳ8 -10 mM for 24 h did not markedly reduce glucose transport (31, 38). In isolated rat soleus muscles, there was also little difference in glucose uptake without insulin after 3 h of incubation with ϳ5 compared with ϳ8 mM glucose (38), but it is possible that a more prolonged incubation would reveal an effect in this range of glucose concentrations.Knowledge i...