Lactate and pyruvate kinetics after treadmill exercise in patients with intermittent claudication

Lactate and pyruvate movements in arterial and venous blood during recovery following treadmill exercise in 8 patients with arterial occlusive disease were studied by means of a two-compartment model. Blood lactate and pyruvate concentration curves over the recovery period were found to fit a two-exponential time function including a rapidly increasing and a slowly decreasing component. The velocity constants gamma 2 were dependent on the exercise load. The time of lactate disappearance during recovery decreased with the work load in patients with intermittent claudication. The velocity constant of the arterial blood pyruvate decrease was similar to that of the simultaneously measured lactate indicating that the rate of lactate removal is closely related to that of pyruvate. In conclusion, the use of the model allows to study factors likely to modify the coefficients, such as physical training, therapeutic effects and active recovery.