NEP Research Seminar

Lactate and Cardioprotection: The Forgotten Missing Link will be presented by Dr. Gary Van Guilder, faculty candidate for the Nutrition and Exercise Physiology Department on Monday, April 16, at 1 p.m. in SAC 249.

Once thought to be a metabolic waste product, lactate is now recognized to have many diverse roles related to gene expression, cell signaling, and cell repair. In addition, lactate has been shown to reduce myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. This suggests that lactate has promising cardioprotective value. It is becoming clear that lactate activates cell survival pathways that are common to other forms of endogenous cardioprotection, particularly ischemic preconditioning. One major benefit of ischemic preconditioning is its energy-sparing effect – attributed in part to greater lactate uptake. There is great possibility, therefore, that lactate may be an innovative adjunctive therapy to restore the benefits of ineffective preconditioning modalities that are frequently observed with elevated cardiometabolic risk. Altered lactate function in the vasculature is likely to be a missing link that undermines cardioprotective interventions. This seminar will provide detailed preliminary studies focusing on the potential for poor lactate function to diminish the cardioprotective properties of ischemic preconditioning in humans. Upcoming clinical research experiments will be outlined. As a result of this seminar, the audience will: 1) appreciate that increased cardiometabolic risk interferes with ischemic preconditioning; 2) gain a greater understanding of the cytoprotective properties of lactate; and 3) learn how lactate threshold-based exercise training can be used as a treatment strategy to restore cardioprotection in at-risk adults.