Relationship between plasma ammonia and blood lactate concentrations after maximal treadmill exercise in circumpubertal girls and boys

The purpose of the study was to define a relationship between plasma ammonia [NH3]pl and blood lactate concentrations [la-]b after exercise in children and to find out whether the [NH3]pl, determined during laboratory treadmill tests, may be useful as a predictor of the children's sprint running ability. A group of 20 girls and 14 boys trained in athletics or swimming and 8 untrained boys, aged 13.2 to 13.7 years, participated in the study. Their [NH3]pl and [la-]b were measured before and after incremental maximal treadmill exercise. In addition, the subjects' running performance was tested in 30-, 60- and 600- or 1000-m runs under field conditions. The [NH3]pl during the treadmill runs increased by 20.1 (SD 17.3), 24 (SD 16.7) and 10 (SD 4.3) mumol.l-1 in the girls, the trained boys and the untrained boys, respectively. The postexercise [NH3]pl correlated positively with [la-]b (r = 0.565 in the girls and 0.812 in the boys) and treadmill speed attained during the test (r = 0.489 in the girls and 0.490 in the boys). Significant correlations were also found between [NH3]pl obtained during the treadmill test and the times of 30- and 60-m runs (r = -0.676 and -0.648, respectively) in the boys but not in the girls. A comparison of the present data with those reported previously in adults showed that increases in [NH3]pl during maximal exercise in children would seem to be lower than in adult subjects both in absolute values and in relation to [la-]b.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)