Crossbred barrows were used for in vivo studies investigating hormonal regulation of lipogenesis. The first experiment examined an in vivo method for determining rates of lipogenesis. Three barrows were infused with [U-14C]glucose and incorporation of radioactivity into triglycerides was determined in up to five biopsies of subcutaneous adipose tissue obtained over 7 h. Incorporation was linear after blood glucose specific radioactivity had reached a plateau and was constant over the entire infusion. For the second experiment, eight pigs (71 +/- 2.5 kg) were allocated to one of two treatments involving daily injections of excipient (control) or porcine somatotropin (pST; 120 micrograms/kg of BW). On d 10, beginning 15 h after injection, glucose incorporation into adipose tissue lipid was determined under both basal and hyperinsulinemic/euglycemic conditions. Basal glucose incorporation into lipid, particularly fatty acids, was markedly reduced (greater than 90%) during pST treatment. Although glucose incorporation was increased to a similar extent in both groups by hyperinsulinemia, the pST-treated pigs still exhibited markedly lower rates. Based on kinetic data, the decrease in lipid accretion of pST-treated pigs was primarily the result of a decrease in the rate of de novo synthesis. Furthermore, the reductions in glucose incorporation into fatty acids, glucose irreversible loss rate, and feed intake that occur with pST treatment were quantitatively similar.