1. The relative roles of sympathetic nerve activity and circulating catecholamines for adipose tissue lipolysis during exercise are not known. 2. Seven paraplegic spinal cord injured (SCI, injury level T3-T5) and seven healthy control subjects were studied by microdialysis and (133)xenon washout in clavicular (Cl) and in umbilical (Um) (sympathetically decentralized in SCI) subcutaneous adipose tissue during 1 h of arm cycling exercise at approximately 60 % of the peak rate of oxygen uptake. 3. During exercise, adipose tissue blood flow (ATBF) and interstitial glycerol, lactate and noradrenaline concentrations increased significantly in both groups. Plasma catecholamine levels increased significantly less with exercise in SCI than in healthy subjects. The exercise-induced increase in interstitial glycerol concentration in subcutaneous adipose tissue was significantly lower in SCI compared with healthy subjects (SCI: 25 +/- 12 % (Cl), 36 +/- 20 % (Um); healthy: 60 +/- 17 % (Cl), 147 +/- 45 % (Um)) and the increase in ATBF was significantly lower (Cl) or similar (Um) in SCI compared with healthy subjects (SCI: 1.2 +/- 0.3 ml (100 g)(-1) min(-1) (Cl), 1.0 +/- 0.3 ml (100 g)(-1) min(-1) (Um); healthy: 2.8 +/- 0.7 ml (100 g)(-1) min(-1) (Cl), 0.6 +/- 0.3 ml (100 g)(-1) min(-1) (Um)). Accordingly, in both adipose tissues lipolysis increased less in SCI compared with healthy subjects, indicating that circulating catecholamines are important for the exercise-induced increase in subcutaneous adipose tissue lipolysis. In SCI subjects, the exercise-induced increase in subcutaneous adipose tissue lipolysis was not lower in decentralized than in sympathetically innervated adipose tissue. During exercise the interstitial noradrenaline and adrenaline concentrations were lower in SCI compared with healthy subjects (P < 0.05) and always lower than arterial plasma catecholamine concentrations (P < 0.05). 4. It is concluded that circulating catecholamines are important for the exercise-induced increase in subcutaneous adipose tissue lipolysis while sympathetic nerve activity is not.