Semi-automatic blood lactate assay: experiences from an exercise laboratory

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Sports Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Blood lactate is a key indicator in exercise physiology.
• Accurate and rapid lactate measurement is crucial for exercise monitoring.
• Existing manual methods can be time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a semi-automatic flow injection analysis (FIA) system for blood lactate determination.
• To compare lactate measurements from non-neutralized and neutralized blood samples.
• To validate FIA lactate results against established manual enzymatic and colorimetric methods.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a semi-automatic flow injection analysis (FIA) system coupled with fluorometric enzymatic methods.
• Collected duplicate blood samples from exercising subjects.
• Compared FIA results with manual enzymatic and colorimetric assays.
• Assessed lactate concentrations in both neutralized and non-neutralized samples.

Main Results:

• The FIA method demonstrated high reliability with a coefficient of variation of 4.9%.
• No significant difference in lactate concentration was found between non-neutralized and neutralized samples.
• FIA lactate values were validated against two manual assay methods.
• The FIA system achieved a rapid throughput of 60 samples per hour.

Conclusions:

• The semi-automatic FIA system provides a rapid, accurate, and reliable method for blood lactate determination.
• Non-neutralization of samples is a viable option, enhancing sample turnover efficiency.
• This FIA method is highly relevant for exercise laboratories requiring fast and precise lactate analysis.