In healthy, insulin-sensitive young men, ingestion of 75 g of glucose is associated with a modest 9% increase in GLUT4 colocalization with dystrophin at 30 minutes post-ingestion, coinciding with peak plasma insulin levels, but this effect is not sustained at 60 minutes and does not deplete intracellular GLUT4 clusters.

When glucose is consumed, the pancreas releases insulin, which signals muscle cells to move glucose transporters from inside the cell to the outer membrane. These transporters attach near structural proteins that mark the cell edge, allowing more glucose to enter. Only a small number of transporters move, so the internal storage pools remain mostly full. After about 30 minutes, the signal fades and the transporters stop moving to the membrane.