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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Small-Scale Colorimetric Assays of Intracellular Lactate and Pyruvate in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: October 15, 2018
Pyruvate but not lactate prevents NADH-induced myoglobin oxidation
Robert A Olek1, Jedrzej Antosiewicz, Jerzy Popinigis
1Department of Bioenergetics, Jedrzej Sniadecki University School of Physical Education, Wiejska 1, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland.
Abstract:
In this work, we investigated the influence of NADH on the redox state of myoglobin and the roles of pyruvate and lactate in this process. NADH increased the autoxidation rate of myoglobin. Both a drop in pH and partial deoxygenation markedly stimulated the autoxidation process and the influence of NADH. A correlation between met-Mb formation rate and NADH oxidation rate was always observed. The increased rate of Mb autoxidation caused by NADH was inhibited by catalase and pyruvate but not by l-lactate. The antioxidant activity versus H2O2 of both pyruvate and lactate was evidenced by chemiluminescence experiments. The antioxidant activity of lactate disappeared completely in the presence of myoglobin or apo-myoglobin, whereas it was only reduced for pyruvate. These results could be of interest in preventing autoxidation of myoglobin that can contribute to ischemia-reperfusion injury during infarction or high-intensity exercise.
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