The purpose of this review is twofold: 1) to review the novel aspects of the acute regulation of gluconeogenesis by hormones with special emphasis on the possible role of ion redistribution and 2) to provide students who do not have previous knowledge of the field with a comprehensive presentation of the subject. Such a text is important because medical or graduate students are required to develop an understanding of the subject rapidly. These students often have a good background in either biochemistry or endocrinology, but very seldom do they exhibit a wide enough background to be familiar with the aspects of gluconeogenesis that necessitate both. For these students sections II and III are included to be used as outlines of their respective subjects