This study was designed to determine the effects of glucose and insulin on malonyl-CoA, the potent inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I, in the gastrocnemius/plantaris muscle group. Isolated rat hindlimbs were perfused with Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate buffer containing fresh erythrocytes (hematocrit = 41) and albumin in a flow-through mode for 60 min. Two experiments were performed. In the first, hindlimbs were perfused with medium containing no glucose and no insulin (n = 9) or with medium containing 10 mM glucose and 100 microU/ml of insulin (n = 9). Gastrocnemius/plantaris malonyl-CoA was 0.6 +/- 0.1 nmol/g in the absence of glucose and insulin vs. 1.4 +/- 0.1 nmol/g when both glucose and insulin were added. In the second experiment, hindlimbs were perfused with medium containing 10 mM glucose alone, 200 microU insulin alone, or with a combination of 10 mM glucose and 200 microU/ml of insulin (n = 8 for each). Malonyl-CoA was decreased in gastrocnemius/plantaris perfused with glucose alone (0.7 +/- 0.2 nmol/g) and with insulin alone (0.7 +/- 0.1 nmol/g) compared with hindlimbs perfused with the combination of glucose and insulin (1.4 +/- 0.2 nmol/g). We conclude that both glucose and insulin are required for preventing a decline in muscle malonyl-CoA.