The abundance of GLUT-4 protein in both total crude membrane and plasma membrane fractions of vastus lateralis muscle from 13 obese non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients and 14 healthy subjects were examined in the fasting state and after supraphysiological hyperinsulinemia. In the basal state the immunoreactive mass of GLUT-4 protein both in the crude membrane preparation and in the plasma membrane fraction was similar in NIDDM patients and control subjects. Moreover, in vivo insulin exposure neither for 30 min nor for 4 h had any impact on the content of GLUT-4 protein in plasma membranes. With the use of the same methodology, antibody, and achieving the same degree of plasma membrane purification and recovery, we found, however, that intraperitoneal administration of insulin to 7-wk-old rats within 30 min increased the content of GLUT-4 protein more than twofold (P < 0.01) in the plasma membrane from red gastrocnemius and soleus muscle. In conclusion, when the subcellular fractionation method was applied to human muscle biopsies taken in the basal state, no difference could be found in the plasma membrane content of immunoreactive GLUT-4 protein between NIDDM patients and normal subjects. With this technique, we were unable to show evidence for a regulatory effect of insulin on the plasma membrane level of GLUT-4 protein in human muscle.