ReviewJournal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism2012
Brain lactate metabolism: the discoveries and the controversies.
Review in Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 263 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
263 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 471 citations in OpenAlex.
- Functional MRS studies of GABA and glutamate/Glx - A systematic review and meta-analysis.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Pooled it
- The Impact of Short-Term Hyperoxia on Cerebral Metabolism: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neurocritical care · 2022Pooled it
- The evidence for the physiological effects of lactate on the cerebral microcirculation: a systematic review.Journal of neurochemistry · 2019Pooled it
- Brain lactate and pH in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a systematic review of findings from magnetic resonance studies.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Pooled it
- Higher physiological vulnerability to hypoxic exposure with advancing age in the human brain.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2020Trial
- Dexmedetomidine improves cognition after carotid endarterectomy by inhibiting cerebral inflammation and enhancing brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression.The Journal of international medical research · 2019Trial
- Trial
- A Hitchhiker's Guide to Physical and Cognitive Effort.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Viral reprogramming of neuronal metabolism captured by label-free imaging in a 3D human brain tissue model.Neurophotonics · 2026Article
- Resuscitative endovascular occlusion of the aorta restores cerebral metabolic markers of ischaemia induced by haemorrhagic shock.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2026Article
- Astrocytic Redox Homeostasis as a Metabolic Modulator of DNA Damage and Repair in the Ischemic Penumbra.Cells · 2026Review
- Exploring and Targeting the Connection of Iron and Copper Homeostasis to Neurodegenerative Diseases.MedComm · 2026Review
- Pentose Phosphate Pathway Is Critical for Providing Energy by Bypassing 6-Phosphofructo-1-Kinase (PFK1) During Increased Neuronal Activity.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Role and clinical importance of lactylation in tumors (Review).Molecular medicine reports · 2026Review
- Effects of Lactate on Improving Cognitive Function and Survival Rate in a Mouse Model of Post-Sepsis Cognitive Impairment.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2026Article
- Requirement for oxidation of neuronal ketone bodies in aging and neurodegeneration.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Normal cerebral oxygen consumption and lactate levels in patients with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia.GeroScience · 2026Article
- NAD⁺ Reduction in Glutamatergic Neurons Induces Lipid Catabolism and Neuroinflammation in the Brain via SARM1.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Metabolic interactions in the brain: the crucial roles of neurons, astrocytes, and microglia in health and disease.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- H3K18 lactylation potentiates microglial polarization via the TLR4 pathway in diabetes-induced cognitive impairment.JCI insight · 2025Article
203 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Potential roles for lactate in the energetics of brain activation have changed radically during the past three decades, shifting from waste product to supplemental fuel and signaling molecule. Current models for lactate transport and metabolism involving cellular responses to excitatory neurotransmission are highly debated, owing, in part, to discordant results obtained in different experimental systems and conditions. Major conclusions drawn from tabular data summarizing results obtained in many laboratories are as follows: Glutamate-stimulated glycolysis is not an inherent property of all astrocyte cultures. Synaptosomes from the adult brain and many preparations of cultured neurons have high capacities to increase glucose transport, glycolysis, and glucose-supported respiration, and pathway rates are stimulated by glutamate and compounds that enhance metabolic demand. Lactate accumulation in activated tissue is a minor fraction of glucose metabolized and does not reflect pathway fluxes. Brain activation in subjects with low plasma lactate causes outward, brain-to-blood lactate gradients, and lactate is quickly released in substantial amounts. Lactate utilization by the adult brain increases during lactate infusions and strenuous exercise that markedly increase blood lactate levels. Lactate can be an 'opportunistic', glucose-sparing substrate when present in high amounts, but most evidence supports glucose as the major fuel for normal, activated brain.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.