Dynamics of hepatic lactate and glucose balances during prolonged exercise and recovery in the dog

The present experiments were undertaken to assess dynamics of hepatic lactate and glucose balance in the over-night-fasted dog during 150 min of moderate-intensity treadmill exercise and 90 min of exercise recovery. Catheters were implanted chronically in an artery and portal and hepatic veins 16 days before experimentation. 3-3H-glucose was infused to determine hepatic glucose uptake, as well as tracer-determined glucose production by isotope dilution (Ra). At rest, net hepatic lactate output was 0.33 +/- 0.15 mg.kg-1.min-1 and increased to 2.26 +/- 0.82 mg.kg-1.min-1 after 10 min of exercise, after which it fell such that the liver was a net lactate consumer by the end of exercise and through recovery. In contrast to the rapid release of lactate, net hepatic glucose output rose gradually from 2.58 +/- 0.20 mg.kg-1.min-1 at rest to 8.87 +/- 0.85 mg.kg-1.min-1 after 60 min of exercise, beyond which it did not change significantly until the cessation of exercise. Hepatic glucose uptake at rest was 1.38 +/- 0.42 mg.kg-1.min-1 and did not change appreciably during exercise or recovery. Absolute hepatic glucose output (net glucose output plus uptake) rose from 3.96 +/- 0.45 mg.kg-1.min-1 at rest to 10.20 +/- 1.09 mg.kg-1.min-1 after 60 min of exercise and was 9.65 +/- 1.15 mg.kg-1.min-1 at 150 min of exercise. Ra rose from 3.34 +/- 0.21 mg.kg-1.min-1 to 7.58 +/- 0.73 and 8.59 +/- 0.77 mg.kg-1.min-1 at 60 and 150 min, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)