Heikki Savolainen, Dept. of Occup. Safety & Hlth., POB 535, Tampere, FIN-33101, Finland
30 July 2008
Lactic acidosis is very common in diabetes and probably caused by methylglyoxal from excessive glucose metabolized in the glyoxalase system to d-lactic acid (1). Metformin seems to increase the d-lactic acid formation.
D-lactate causes a neurotoxic syndrome by an unknown mechanism. The long metabolic half-life of the acid may contribute to this as its oxidation by the high Km mitochondrial D-lactate oxidase is slow.
1 Talasniemi JP, Pennanen S, Savolainen H, et al. Analytical investigation: Assay of D-lactate in diabetic plasma and urine. Clin Biochem (2008), doi:10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2008.06.011
Diabetic acidosis due to D-lactate
30 July 2008
Lactic acidosis is very common in diabetes and probably caused by methylglyoxal from excessive glucose metabolized in the glyoxalase system to d-lactic acid (1). Metformin seems to increase the d-lactic acid formation.
D-lactate causes a neurotoxic syndrome by an unknown mechanism. The long metabolic half-life of the acid may contribute to this as its oxidation by the high Km mitochondrial D-lactate oxidase is slow.
1 Talasniemi JP, Pennanen S, Savolainen H, et al. Analytical investigation: Assay of D-lactate in diabetic plasma and urine. Clin Biochem (2008), doi:10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2008.06.011
Competing interests
none