REVIEW article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Metabolic Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1621358
Dual Role of Lactate in Human Health and Disease
Provisionally accepted
- 1Emory University Medicine, Atlanta, United States
- 2University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India
- 3Department of Pharmacology and Life Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Puncak Alam, 42300, Selangor, Malaysia, Puncak Alam, Malaysia
- 4Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Lactate, traditionally seen as a byproduct of anaerobic metabolism, has gained attention for its dual role in human health. While it is associated with muscle fatigue, lactate also plays a crucial role in various physiological and pathological processes. This review explores lactate's dual nature as both beneficial and detrimental. Under normal physiological conditions, lactate is an essential energy substrate, involved in the Cori cycle, where it is converted back to glucose in the liver. However, excessive lactate accumulation is linked to health issues, including cancer, metabolic disorders, and neurological diseases. The Warburg effect in cancer, characterized by increased lactate production even in oxygen-rich environments, promotes tumor progression and therapy resistance. In diseases like malaria and ischemic stroke, high lactate levels contribute to tissue damage and metabolic disturbances. Recent research also highlights lactate's beneficial roles, including regulation of immune responses, enhanced exercise performance, and neuronal signaling. Furthermore, gut microbiota significantly impacts lactate metabolism, where beneficial bacteria use lactate to maintain gut health, while some pathogenic bacteria exacerbate disease through excess lactate production. Emerging therapeutic potential of lactate, including lactate dehydrogenase inhibitors, offers promising treatment avenues. This review provides a comprehensive overview of lactate's complex role in health and disease, emphasizing the need for targeted strategies to harness its benefits while mitigating its harmful effects.
Keywords: Style Definition: Line Number: Font: 10 pt, Font color: Auto Formatted: Right: 0", Space After: 12 pt, Line spacing: single Formatted: Font: Bold Formatted: Space After: 12 pt, Line spacing: single Formatted: Right: 0", Line spacing: 1.5 lines Font: 10 pt, BOLD, Font color: Custom Color(RGB(31
Received: 02 May 2025; Accepted: 18 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kumar, Sahu, JAWAID, Jayasingh Chellammal and UPADHYAY. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: PRABHAT UPADHYAY, Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.