[Postmortem changes in the perilymphatic lactate and pyruvate concentrations of guinea pigs. (author's transl)]

Lactate and pyruvate of perilymph (PL) were studied 30, 60, and 120 min postmortem. During this period the mean lactate concentration of scala tympani and scala vestibuli increased from 4.8 mmol/l found intravitally to 17.8 and 15.1 mmol/l, respectively, whereas pyruvate decreased from an average of 0.33 to 0.10 mmol/l (fig. 1). These inverse changes of concentration yield postmortem lactate/pyruvate quotients which are more than one order of magnitude higher than the quotients found intravitally (Table 1). In comparative tests of blood samples carried out 30, 60, and 120 min after the sampling (Fig.1), the lactate increase was found to be markedly lower than in postmortem PL. The substantial metabolite changes in PL seem to be caused by glycolytic activity of all cochlear structures that are in direct contact with PL. The decrease of pyruvate level is probably due to a shift of the lactate-pyruvate equilibrium (lactate dehydrogenase system) in PL. The blood vessels in the perilymphatic space can be neglected as postmortem metabolite source of PL.