The two isoforms of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma1 and PPARgamma2), are ligand-activated transcription factors that are the intracellular targets of a new class of insulin sensitizing agents, the thiazolidinediones. The observation that thiazolidinediones enhance skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity in obesity and in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), by activating PPARgamma, and possibly by inducing its expression, suggests that PPARgamma expression in skeletal muscle plays a key role in determining tissue sensitivity to insulin, and that PPARgamma expression may be decreased in insulin resistant subjects. We used a sensitive ribonuclease protection assay, that permits simultaneous measurement of the two isoforms, to examine the effects of obesity and NIDDM, and the effects of insulin, on skeletal muscle levels of PPARgamma1 and PPARgamma2 mRNA. We studied seven patients with NIDDM (body mass index, 32+/-1 kg/m2), seven lean (24+/-1 kg/m2), and six obese (36+/-1 kg/m2) normal subjects. Biopsies from the vastus lateralis muscle were taken before and after a 5-h hyperinsulinemic (80 mU/m2 per minute) euglycemic clamp. The obese controls and NIDDM patients were insulin resistant with glucose disposal rates during the last 30 min of the clamp that were 67 and 31%, respectively, of those found in the lean controls. PPARgamma1, but not PPARgamma2 mRNA was detected in skeletal muscle at 10-15% of the level found in adipose tissue. No difference was found in PPARgamma1 levels between the three groups, and there was no change in PPARgamma1 levels after 5 h of hyperinsulinemia. In obese subjects, PPARgamma1 correlated with clamp glucose disposal rates (r = 0.92, P < 0.01). In the lean and NIDDM patients, muscle PPARgamma1 levels correlated with percentage body fat (r = 0.76 and r = 0.82, respectively, both P < 0.05) but not with body mass index. In conclusion: (a) skeletal muscle PPARgamma1 expression does not differ between normal and diabetic subjects, and is not induced by short-term hyperinsulinemia; (b) skeletal muscle PPARgamma1 expression was higher in subjects whose percent body fat exceeded 25%, and this may be a compensatory phenomenon in an attempt to maintain normal insulin sensitivity.