Effect of decreased O<sub>2</sub> supply to tissue on the lactate:pyruvate ratio in blood

William A. Neill; Peter E. Jensen; Gerald B. Rich; John D. Werschkul

doi:10.1172/JCI106152

¹Department of Medicine, University of Oregon Medical School, Portland, Oregon 97201

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¹Department of Medicine, University of Oregon Medical School, Portland, Oregon 97201

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¹Department of Medicine, University of Oregon Medical School, Portland, Oregon 97201

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¹Department of Medicine, University of Oregon Medical School, Portland, Oregon 97201

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Published in Volume 48, Issue 10 on October 1, 1969
J Clin Invest. 1969;48(10):1862–1869. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI106152.
© 1969 The American Society for Clinical Investigation

Published October 1, 1969 - Version history

Experiments were performed with trained conscious dogs with permanently implanted intravascular catheters. With the dogs in a basal resting state, the concentrations of lactate (L) and pyruvate (P) in arterial blood fluctuated widely from day to day, whereas their concentration ratio (L/P) remained relatively constant. By contrast, decrease in tissue O₂ supply induced by severe chronic anemia increased the arterial blood L/P, specifically, with only random accompanying changes in the lactate or pyruvate concentrations themselves.

When systemic O₂ consumption was increased acutely by muscular exercise, cardiac output increased, and the changes in blood L/P were small and not consistent between different dogs. But when O₂ supply to the tissues was simultaneously limited by anemia, L/P increased during exercise, and the magnitude of the increase was proportional to the severity of the anemia. These results suggest that changes in blood L/P during exercise are related specifically to tissue O₂ supply.