Traditionally, investigation of metabolism in peripheral tissues such as the adipose
tissue and muscles has been done by indirect measurements on whole body metabolism
or in cannulated limbs. The microdialysis technique (1) was first invented and further
developed (2) by neurobiologists for regional measurements in the rat brain. During
the last ten years the technique has been used in several other organs in laboratory
animals and since the first application in man (3) it has become wide spread for clinical
investigation of human metabolism as well as for clinical pharmacology research. In
this article some methodological aspects will be discussed and a few examples of the
application of the technique will be given.
