Skip to main content
  • Review
  • Published:

Lactate as a marker of energy failure in critically ill patients: hypothesis

Abstract

Lactate measurement in the critically ill has been traditionally used to stratify patients with poor outcome. However, plasma lactate levels are the result of a finely tuned interplay of factors that affect the balance between its production and its clearance. When the oxygen supply does not match its consumption, organisms such as man who are forced to produce ATP for their integrity adapt in many different ways up to the point when energy failure occurs. Lactate, being part of the adaptive response, may then be used to assess the severity of the supply/demand imbalance. In such a scenario, the time to intervention becomes relevant: early and effective treatment may allow the cell to revert to a normal state, as long as the oxygen machinery (i.e. mithocondria) is intact. Conversely, once the mithocondria are deranged, energy failure occurs even in the presence of normoxia. The lactate increase in critically ill patients may therefore be viewed as an early marker of a potentially reversible state.

Lactate in critical illness

The normal reference values for lactate are traditionally considered 1 ± 0.5 mmol/l in normal patients and <2 mmol/l in critically ill patients [1]. Since 1975, values above 2 mmol/l but lower than 5 mmol/l have been separated from values above 5 mmol/l, associated with acidemia, as different clinical entities – referring to hyperlactatemia states in the former situation as opposed to lactic acidosis in the latter situation [2]. A further stratification, initially proposed by Cohen in 1976 [3], has been subsequently used according to the presence (type A) or absence (type B) of 'evident' causes of tissue hypoxia to explain the underlying cause of increased lactate. Over the years, however, more sophisticated means of assessing regional and even local perfusion have changed the aforementioned classification into a more perfusion-oriented vision. In fact, our increased ability to assess tissue oxygenation clearly implies that measured plasma lactate concentration is only a small window of a much more complicated scenario.

Lactate as a clinical marker of hypoxia

As will be described, lactate is one of the intermediate products that increase as a consequence of the rearrangement of metabolism during hypoxia. As such, lactate has been widely considered a marker of tissue hypoxia. There are several examples of the increase of lactate in hypoxic conditions [4, 5]. Figure 1 shows our own experimental results. The lactate increase is very fast, a matter of minutes, and is proportional to the defect in the oxidative metabolism [6].

Figure 1
figure 1

Quick response to lactate production following exposure of laboratory animals to hypoxia. The panel on the top represents changes in arterial oxygenation (PO2) when inspiratory fraction of oxygen (FiO2) is decreased to 8%. Bottom panel shows corresponding lactate changes.

However, measured plasma lactate is the balance between production and clearance. Liver failure does in fact influence the kinetics of lactate increase [7].

It is also worth note that lactate is an intermediate compound of normal metabolism. Erythrocytes, for instance, which are equivalent to an organ weighing approximately 2500 g, are obligatory anaerobes and 'breathe' via the lactate they produce that is recycled from fatty acid oxidation in the liver. Lactate, in this case, may be considered an energy shuttle rather than a waste compound [8].

Outcome and stratification of severity

Lactate has been used as a marker in critically ill patients since 1964 [9]. In 1970, Weil and Afifi clearly showed the relationship between lactate concentration and outcome [10]. Several authors have subsequently confirmed those results [11–15]. Interestingly, lactate measurements have also been used to stratify patients. In fact, plasma lactate may be used as a tool to discriminate patients with or without hemodynamic failure, a process similar to the early definition of type B lactic acidosis (see earlier). Many of the papers dealing with the oxygen consumption/oxygen delivery (VO2/DO2) dependency have included such an approach [16–24].

Therapeutic response

Even more important, however, is the use of lactate measurement as a guide to therapy.

A lactate fall after a volume challenge may reveal a preload-based energy failure. An increase of lactate following a dobutamine challenge test may imply that the oxygen machinery is unable to cope with the new workload [25]. The use of lactate to assess the efficacy of therapy has been recently shown by Rivers and colleagues in their frequently quoted paper [26], and is confirmed by routine clinical use of lactate in many clinical settings such as emergency departments, operating rooms or intensive care units.

Despite the encouraging scenario, however, there are pitfalls for lactate as a clinical marker. Specimen collection, the stability of stored samples, the metabolic effects of blood cells or even technical problems may affect the interpretation of lactate concentrations [27]. Moreover, there are situations in which plasma lactate does not increase despite its local formation (exclusion of the territory from perfusion) or in which the lactate increase does not correspond to energetic failure (neoplastic cells, intoxications, etc.). Nevertheless, we think the use of lactate may be of great value for clinical practice, as long as it is 'interpreted' over time within other signs, symptoms and biophysical measurements.

In the following we will propose a research hypothesis according to which an increase of lactate in critically ill patients may be considered positive when supply dependency occurs. To describe this hypothesis we will first briefly cover the basics of adaptation to tissue hypoxia in order to define 'energy failure'. We will then discuss the role of lactate measurements in the critically ill and the meaning of time to intervention following energy failure.

Adaptation to hypoxia and energy failure

Apart from the easy to understand differences between the fresh water turtle, the hibernating frog and man, there is one major difference: the first two species are able to 'conform' to oxygen deprivation, whereas man definitively needs oxygen to 'regulate' his whole life [28].

The so-called oxygen conformers shut down energy expenditure by arresting transmembrane ion traffic [29]. The energy required for pumping ions across the membrane and against the electrochemical gradient is in fact a great amount of the resting energy expenditure. Ion channel arrest is therefore valuable in decreasing oxygen requirements. Notably, ion channel arrest does not interfere with cell integrity.

Oxygen regulators, such as man, lack this possibility to shut down energy expenditure. They are forced to consume energy irrespective of its supply. Such an imbalance of supply and demand drives the cascade of events that eventually leads the cell to death in the absence of oxygen (i.e. energy substrate) [28].

Man does not always die even in critical hypoxic situations, however, implying that a certain amount of adaptation to hypoxia is possible. Some of the mechanisms of adaptation to acute hypoxia are now described.

Flow redistribution

Blood flows to distal organs according to simple physical laws. Hagen Pousille's law clearly shows that flow depends on the pressure gradient from the initial to the distal point of flow and on the length and size of the vessels (i.e. resistances). Given an initial pressure (i.e. heart function and vessel tone), the flow distributes according to the least pressure encountered downstream. Basically this is the background for flow distribution to organs, given the local neural control of vessel size that translates into resistance to flow. The vasoconstriction and/or vasodilatation of different vessels in critical conditions therefore allows blood flow to redistribute to first-line organs, the function of which is necessary to maintain integrity of the whole body to survive. This simple yet sophisticated possibility is one of the fundamentals of adaptation to hypoxia.

Flow redistribution, by increasing the number of capillaries per tissue unit, is also one of the cornerstone mechanisms of an oxygen extraction ratio increase.

Partial oxygen 'shut down'

Years ago many authors and clinicians spent much time dealing with the so-called VO2/DO2 dependency [30]. This dependency is defined as the critical point below which VO2 depends on DO2. The VO2/DO2 dependency may be viewed as an adaptive mechanism: the organism, due to a lack of energy, consumes less energy. Perhaps this state was for a long time considered 'bad', but we may provocatively think of it as 'good' (i.e. as a strategy to survive).

This phenomenon may be viewed as an adaptation, thus assimilating man, at least in part, to oxygen conformers.

Metabolic rearrangement

Metabolic rearrangement is impressive. Our complicated metabolic machinery, once the substrate for energy production decreases or even ceases, shifts its pathways to overcome the problem.

One of the most known and important metabolic rearrangements is the Pasteur effect. Under a lack of oxygen, pyruvate derived from the anaerobic conversion of glucose cannot enter the Krebs' cycle via acetyl-coenzyme A to produce energy. The conversion of pyruvate to lactate, despite unfavorable stechiometry, thus allows energy production without oxygen. This is a major adaptive mechanism to survive hypoxia.

Meanwhile, a whole interplay of metabolic pathways favors lactate utilization for gluconeogenesis in the liver [31], decreases glucose oxidation via insulin resistance [32] and even redirects the compartmentalization of glucose/lactate metabolism between different types of cells within the same organ [33].

Acid–base status

According to Stewart's view, lactate production modifies the strong ion difference thus influencing one of the determinants of H+ concentration. The resulting addition of protons drives the CO2 dissociation equation, CO2 + H2O ↔ H2CO3 ↔ HCO3- + H+, to the left causing CO2 to dissolve (even if the CO2 content does not change). Both CO2 and the protons move the dissociation curve of hemoglobin to the right, thus allowing a better transfer of oxygen to the tissue.

The influence of pH on the adaptive response, however, is possibly even more important. Indeed, while extreme values of acidemia (perhaps below 7.2) interfere with hemodynamic stability, a pH value lower than normal is somewhat essential for adaptation. In fact, while there are tissues whose metabolic rearranged pathways need lactate as an intermediate metabolite to survive [34], the production of lactate itself depends on the pH level [35].

Interestingly, the inhibition of phosphofructokinase by low pH, decreasing the utilization of glucose, may serve as a strategy to spare metabolic fuel avoiding rapid consumption and exhaustion of glucose [36]. Moreover, the pH value controls the rate of lactate uptake from blood by hypoxic skeletal muscles [37].

Gene regulation

Metabolic pathways are driven by dissociation constants and are under tight enzymatic control. However, as we are increasingly learning, several kinds of 'regulations' (adaptive not excluded) are under gene control.

Interestingly, possibly via the amount of reactive oxygen species or directly via the mitochondria [38], cells sense hypoxia and trigger the upregulation of a powerful factor, hypoxia inducible factor-1 [39]. This inducible factor, which is constitutively expressed and rapidly degraded in normoxic conditions, is accumulated during hypoxia. The increased protein stability can activate many of the aforementioned mechanisms of adaptation, including the Pasteur effect [40]. Table 1 summarizes some of the cellular and systemic responses in which hypoxia inducible factor-1 is involved, all of which are of importance in preventing energy failure by rearranging more favorable fuel utilization and by increasing local oxygen delivery.

Table 1 Responses to acute and/or chronic hypoxia in which hypoxia inducible factor-1 is involved

It is of note that absolute oxygen deprivation at the mitochondria site is the trigger for cell apoptosis [39]. This is another key factor in the genetic regulation of adaptation to hypoxia, allowing programmed cell death (apoptosis) as opposed to the much more harmful cell necrosis.

In conclusion, there are several mechanisms by which oxygen regulators may initially adapt to an imbalance between energy supply and energy demand. However, as shown in Fig. 2, contrary to oxygen conformers, man is only able to cope with an energy imbalance to a limited extent. Once the threshold of adaptation is overcome, the obligate need for energy leads to 'energy failure'. This may be accounted for as an unfavorable balance between ATP production and ATP utilization (i.e. ATP turnover) according to the formula describing energy charge: Energy charge = ([ATP] + 0.5[ADP])/([ATP] + [ADP] + [AMP]). A ratio between 0.8 and 0.95 is considered normal to survive, implying normal supply for ATP synthesis and structurally intact machinery (i.e. mithocondria).

Figure 2
figure 2

Different responses of oxygen conformers and oxygen regulators to oxygen deprivation. Once a threshold of adaptation is reached, oxygen regulators undergo an imbalance between energy supply and energy consumption that leads to 'energy failure'.

Energy failure, lactate and time-course of illness

As already mentioned, a hypoxic insult may lead an oxygen-regulated organism to death or to survival according to its ability to adapt to hypoxia. However, even for a given genetic trait, an individual may undergo adaptation or energy failure, depending on time. In fact, if one expressed ATP turnover over time there may be a scenario in which forced hypometabolism rapidly decreases ATP turnover, eventually leading to cell death. On the contrary, a slow decrease of ATP turnover may allow a much longer survival (Fig. 3).

Figure 3
figure 3

ATP turnover expressed over time. The fate of a cell exposed to a decreased ATP turnover is shown. Time is essential to adaptation, the lack of which brings the cell to death.

In the acute setting, oxygen conformance is unlikely because a decrease of VO2 is accompanied by an increase in lactate levels. On the contrary, in the subacute settings, down-regulation of some tissue metabolic activities is possible in order to preserve more essential reactions [41]. There is also evidence that oxygen conformance may exist in chronic diseases in humans: Schumaker and colleagues reported that VO2, determined indirectly by calorimetry, rapidly increases after percutaneous valvuloplasty in patients with severe aortic stenosis and cardiac cachexia [42].

When dealing with energy failure, time is the essence also under a different perspective. In fact, there is a time window in which the hypoxic cell, despite suffering, will revert to a normal state if oxygen is supplied. After a time threshold, however, an energy supply will be of no use. This time frame is our therapeutic opportunity.

Let us consider hemorrhage as an example. Hemorrhage is an acute preload hemodynamic impairment. Provided DO2 is the product of stroke volume and heart rate (cardiac output) times the oxygen content (respiratory function - arterial oxygen content), the energy failure during hemorrhage is due to a stroke volume deficiency that eventually leads to cell hypoxia. In the presence of normal adaptation processes, however, the cell may cope with hypoxia for a while. If preload is restored meanwhile, once oxygen is back the cell will be able to utilize it because the oxygen machinery (i.e. mitochondria) is still intact.

However, if the lack of oxygen persists, necrosis occurs and organ failure emerges late during the course of illness. At that time, even if an acid load due to cell lysis may persist, the adaptive metabolic rearrangement that previously was responsible for the increase of lactate (see earlier) my cease. Plasma lactate may then decrease over time, provided clearance is not impaired.

Similarly, an exaggerated aerobic glycolysis through Na+K+-ATPase stimulation during septic shock may lead to hyperlactatemia [43, 44]. However, severe patients with poor outcome have been shown to have mitochondrial dysfunction. In fact, mediators such as nitric oxide may inhibit the respiratory chain in the presence of normoxia or even hyperoxia [45].

It thus seems that once oxygen machinery is out of order, whether the initial insult was hemorrhage or sepsis, the therapeutic opportunity is lost. This view may be applied to the literature on the hemodynamic supranormal target. If we consider the paper by Rivers and colleagues [26], it is clear that their intervention was very early in the course of the energy failure process and was very effective (see sections on mixed venous saturation of oxygen and lactate changes over time – few hours), as opposed to the late (third day in the intensive care unit) and ineffective (see section on venous saturation of oxygen) treatment by Gattinoni and colleagues [25].

Conclusion

The metabolic fate of lactate in the body is under sophisticated and finely tuned control. Many different conditions may alter the balance between its production and clearance. This per se is a limitation for the use of lactate as a clinical marker in critically ill patients.

Nevertheless, when energy failure becomes relevant, lactate measurement over time may be used as a metabolic marker of energy failure. Contrary to what one may think, an increase of lactate in critically ill patients in the presence of supply dependency may be viewed as a positive feature, indicating the presence of functioning adaptive metabolic pathways! Increased lactate levels may be considered an early marker of a potentially reversible state, possibly indicating that 'there is still room' to boost fast intervention.

Abbreviations

DO:

oxygen delivery

VO:

oxygen consumption.

References

  1. Mizock BA: Lactic acidosis. Dis Mon 1989, 35: 233-300.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Krebs H, Wood H, Alberti K: Hyperlactatemia and lactic acidosis. Essays Med Biochem 1975, 1: 81-103.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cohen R: Disorders of lactic acid metabolism. Clin Endocrinol Metab 1976, 5: 613-625. 10.1016/S0300-595X(76)80043-6

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Abu RS, Tannen RL: Amelioration of hypoxia-induced lactic acidosis by superimposed hypercapnea or hydrochloric acid infusion. Am J Physiol 1986, 250: F702-F709.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Pison CM, Chauvin C, Perrault H, Schwebel C, Lafond JL, Boujet C, Leverve XM: In vivo hypoxic exposure impairs metabolic adaptations to a 48 hour fast in rats. Eur Respir J 1998, 12: 658-665. 10.1183/09031936.98.12030658

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Mizock BA: Lactic acidosis in critical illness. Crit Care Med 1992, 20: 80-93.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Chrusch C, Bands C, Bose D, Li X, Jacobs H, Duke K, Bautista E, Eschun G, Light RB, Mink SN: Impaired hepatic extraction and increased splanchnic production contribute to lactic acidosis in canine sepsis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2000, 161: 517-526.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Leverve X: Energy metabolism in critically ill patients: lactate is a major oxidizable substrate. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 1999, 2: 165-169. 10.1097/00075197-199903000-00013

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Broder G, Weil MH: Excess lactate: an index of reversibility of shock in human patients. Science 1964, 143: 1457-1459.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Weil MH, Afifi AA: Experimental and clinical studies on lactate and pyruvate as indicators of the severity of acute circulatory failure (shock). Circulation 1970, 41: 989-1001.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Vitek V, Cowley RA: Blood lactate in the prognosis of various forms of shock. Ann Surg 1971, 173: 308-313.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Cady LDJ, Weil MH, Afifi AA, Michaels SF, Liu VY, Shubin H: Quantitation of severity of critical illness with special reference to blood lactate. Crit Care Med 1973, 1: 75-80.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Ronco JJ, Fenwick JC, Tweeddale MG, Wiggs BR, Phang PT, Cooper DJ, Cunningham KF, Russell JA, Walley KR: Identification of the critical oxygen delivery for anaerobic metabolism in critically ill septic and nonseptic humans. JAMA 1993, 270: 1724-1730. 10.1001/jama.270.14.1724

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Levraut J, Ichai C, Petit I, Ciebiera JP, Perus O, Grimaud D: Low exogenous lactate clearance as an early predictor of mortality in normolactatemic critically ill septic patients. Crit Care Med 2003, 31: 705-710. 10.1097/01.CCM.0000045561.85810.45

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Bakker J, Coffernils M, Leon M, Gris P, Vincent JL: Blood lactate levels are superior to oxygen-derived variables in predicting outcome in human septic shock. Chest 1991, 99: 956-962.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Haupt MT, Gilbert EM, Carlson RW: Fluid loading increases oxygen consumption in septic patients with lactic acidosis. Am Rev Respir Dis 1985, 131: 912-916.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Vincent JL, Roman A, De Backer D, Kahn RJ: Oxygen uptake/supply dependency. Effects of short-term dobutamine infusion. Am Rev Respir Dis 1990, 142: 2-7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Vincent JL, Roman A, Kahn RJ: Dobutamine administration in septic shock: addition to a standard protocol. Crit Care Med 1990, 18: 689-693.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Vallet B, Chopin C, Curtis SE, Dupuis BA, Fourrier F, Mehdaoui H, LeRoy B, Rime A, Santre C, Herbecq P: Prognostic value of the dobutamine test in patients with sepsis syndrome and normal lactate values: a prospective, multicenter study. Crit Care Med 1993, 21: 1868-1875.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. De Backer D, Moraine JJ, Berre J, Kahn RJ, Vincent JL: Effects of dobutamine on oxygen consumption in septic patients. Direct versus indirect determinations. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1994, 150: 95-100.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Rhodes A, Lamb FJ, Malagon I, Newman PJ, Grounds RM, Bennett ED: A prospective study of the use of a dobutamine stress test to identify outcome in patients with sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock. Crit Care Med 1999, 27: 2361-2366. 10.1097/00003246-199911000-00007

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Gilbert EM, Haupt MT, Mandanas RY, Huaringa AJ, Carlson RW: The effect of fluid loading, blood transfusion, and catecholamine infusion on oxygen delivery and consumption in patients with sepsis. Am Rev Respir Dis 1986, 134: 873-878.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Gattinoni L, Brazzi L, Pelosi P, Latini R, Tognoni G, Pesenti A, Fumagalli R: A trial of goal-oriented hemodynamic therapy in critically ill patients. SvO 2 Collaborative Group. N Engl J Med 1995, 333: 1025-1032. 10.1056/NEJM199510193331601

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Hayes MA, Timmins AC, Yau EH, Palazzo M, Hinds CJ, Watson D: Elevation of systemic oxygen delivery in the treatment of critically ill patients. N Engl J Med 1994, 330: 1717-1722. 10.1056/NEJM199406163302404

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Gattinoni L, Valenza F, Carlesso E: Adequate' hemodynamics: a question of time? In Functional Hemodynamic Monitoring. Edited by: Pinsky MR, Payen D. Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 2004:69-86.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Rivers E, Nguyen B, Havstad S, Ressler J, Muzzin A, Knoblich B, Peterson E, Tomlanovich M: Early goal-directed therapy in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock. N Engl J Med 2001, 345: 1368-1377. 10.1056/NEJMoa010307

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Toffaletti JG: Blood lactate: biochemistry, laboratory methods, and clinical interpretation. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci 1991, 28: 253-268.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Boutilier RG: Mechanisms of cell survival in hypoxia and hypothermia. J Exp Biol 2001, 204: 3171-3181.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Hochachka PW: Defense strategies against hypoxia and hypothermia. Science 1986, 231: 234-241.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Vincent JL: DO 2 /VO 2 relationship. In Functional Hemodynamic Monitoring. Edited by: Pinsky MR, Payen D. Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 2004:251-258.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Leverve XM, Mustafa I: Lactate: a key metabolite in the intercellular metabolic interplay. Crit Care 2002, 6: 284-285. 10.1186/cc1509

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Vettor R, Lombardi A, Fabris R: Lactate infusion in anesthetised rats produces insulin resistance in heart and skeletal muscles. Metabolism 1997, 46: 684-690. 10.1016/S0026-0495(97)90014-7

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Pellerin L, Magistretti P: How to balance brain energy budget while spending glucose differently. J Physiol 2003, 546: 325. 10.1113/jphysiol.2002.035105

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Schurr A, Rigor BM: Brain anaerobic lactate production: a suicide note or a survival kit? Dev Neurosci 1998, 20: 348-357. 10.1159/000017330

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Newsholme E, Leech A: Control of gluconeogenesis and glycolysis. In Biochemistry for Medical Sciences. Edited by: Newsholme E, Leech A. New York: Wyley; 1990:450-460.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Helperin M, Chhema-Dhadli S, Halperin F, Kamel K: Rationale for the use of sodium bicarbonate in a patient with lactic acidosis due to a poor cardiac output. Nephron 1994, 66: 258-261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Gutierrez LB, Hurtado FJ, Gutierrez AM, Fernandez E: Net uptake of lacate by rabbit hindlimb during hypoxia. Am Rev Respir Dis 1993, 148: 1204-1209.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Bunn HF, Poyton RO: Oxygen sensing and molecular adaptation to hypoxia. Physiol Rev 1996, 76: 839-885.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Brunelle J, Chandel N: Oxygen deprivation induced cell death: an update. Apoptosis 2002, 7: 475-482. 10.1023/A:1020668923852

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Seagroves TN, Ryan HE, Lu H, Wouters BG, Knapp M, Thibault P, Laderoute K, Johnson RS: Transcription factor HIF-1 is a necessary mediator of the pasteur effect in mammalian cells. Mol Cell Biol 2001, 21: 3436-3444. 10.1128/MCB.21.10.3436-3444.2001

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Singer M, De Santi V, Vitale D, Jeffcoate W: Multiorgan failure is an adaptive, endocrine-medaited, metabolic response to overwhelming systemic inflammation. Lancet 2004, 364: 545-548. 10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16815-3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Shumacker PT, Soble JF, Feldman T: Oxygen delivery and uptake relationships in patients with aortic stenosis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1994, 149: 1123-1131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Howard JJ, Luchette FA, McCarter FD, Fisher JE: Lactate is an unreliable indicator of tissue hypoxia in injury or sepsis. Lancet 1999, 354: 505-508. 10.1016/S0140-6736(98)91132-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Levy B, Gibot S, Frank P, Cravoisy A, Bollaert PE: Relation between muscle Na+K+ATPase activity and rised lactate concentrations in septic shock: a prospective study. Lancet 2005, 365: 871-875. 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)71045-X

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Brealey D, Brand M, Hargreaves I, Heales S, Land J, Smolenski R, Davies NA, Cooper CE, Singer M: Association between mitochondrial dysfunction and severity and outcome of septic shock. Lancet 2002, 360: 219-223. 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)09459-X

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Iyer NV, Kotch LE, Agani F, Leung SW, Laughner E, Wenger RH, Gassmann M, Gearhart JD, Lawler AM, Yu AY, Semenza GL: Cellular and developmental control of O 2 homeostasis by hypoxia-indicible factor 1α. Genes Dev 1998, 12: 149-162.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Semenza GL, Roth PH, Fang HM, Wang GL: Transcriptional regulation of genes encoding glycolytic enzymes by hypoxia-inducible factor 1. J Biol Chem 1994, 269: 23757-23763.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Jiang B-H, Rue E, Wang GL, Roe R, Semenza GL: Dimerization, DNA binding, and transactivation properties of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α. J Biol Chem 1996, 271: 17771-17778. 10.1074/jbc.271.30.17771

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Forsythe JA, Jiang B-H, Iyver NV, Agani F, Leung SW, Koos RD, Semenza GL: Activation of vascular endothelial factor gene transcription by hipoxia-inducible factor 1α. Mol Cell Biol 1996, 16: 4604-4613.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Hu J, Disher DJ, Bishopric NH, Webster KA: Hypoxia regulates expression for the endothelin-1 gene through a proximal hypoxia-inducible factor-1 binding on the antisense strand. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1998, 245: 894-899. 10.1006/bbrc.1998.8543

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Lee PJ, Jiang B-H, Chin BY, Iyer NV, Alam J, Semenza GL, Choi AMK: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 mediates heme oxygenase-1 gene in response to hypoxia. J Biol Chem 1997, 272: 5375-5381. 10.1074/jbc.272.9.5375

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Palmer LA, Semenza GL, Stoler MH, Johns RA: Hypoxia induces type II NOS gene expression in pulmonary artery endothelial cells via HIF-1. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 1998, 274: L212-L219.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Franco Valenza.

Additional information

Competing interests

Franco Valenza received an honorarium of €500.00 in December 2004 for his presentation on lactate and mitochondria injury in an event organized by Instrumentation Laboratories S.p.a. There are no other financial or non-financial conflicts of interest.

Authors’ original submitted files for images

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Valenza, F., Aletti, G., Fossali, T. et al. Lactate as a marker of energy failure in critically ill patients: hypothesis. Crit Care 9, 588 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1186/cc3818

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/cc3818

Keywords