Activities of key enzymes in hepatic glucose utilization were compared between obese (C57BL/6J ob/ob) mice, their lean controls and outbred Swiss albino mice in the fed condition and during fasting. As liver hyperplasia and hepatocyte hypertrophy were present in the ob/ob mice at 4-5 months of age and changes in hepatic cellularity did occur with fasting, enzyme activity was expressed on the basis of protein, DNA, and wet weight. In the fed state, activities of glucokinase+ hexokinase (glucose phosphorylating capability), phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase were significantly greater in livers of ob/ob mice when compared to those of the lean control. Glucokinase+ hexokinase activities in livers of ob/ob mice remained significantly higher throughout the 48 h fast yet the activities of hepatic phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase, when expressed per g wet wt or mg protein, decreased so that a statistical difference from the fasted lean control was no longer detected. When expressed per 100 g body weight, hepatic glucokinase+ hexokinase as well as phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase activities in obese mice were higher both in the fed and fasted states when compared to lean controls in the comparable nutritional condition. This increased capacity of key enzyme activities in hepatic glucose utilization can be attributed to liver hyperplasia found in ob/ob mice in both the fed and fasted condition. While higher hepatic glucose phosphorylating capability was maintained during fasting, the elevated specific activities of hepatic phosphofructokinase and pyruvate kinase in the obese mouse in the fed state decreased with starvation to values found in the lean control.