ReviewCells2025
The Role of Lactate in Immune Regulation: A Metabolic Rheostat via Transporters, Receptors, and Epigenetic Modifiers.
Review in Cells, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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
25 citing papers in PubMed.
- Lactate as a Signaling Molecule in the Tumor Microenvironment: Implications for Cancer Progression.Biochemical genetics · 2026Review
- Lactate as a Master Regulator of Immune Suppression: From Metabolic Waste to Epigenetic Checkpoint in Colorectal Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- A Defined Synbiotic Produces Immunomodulatory Metabolites, Engages Gut-Immune Pathways Relevant to Inflammaging, and Supports Healthy Aging in a Nematode Model.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Lactate as a Cardiovascular Exerkine: Mechanisms, Signaling Pathways, and Clinical Implications.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Review
- A Novel Approach to Neuropathic Pain Treatment: Lactylation Targeting Microglia.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Targeted metabolomics of organic and amino acids in giraffe milk during mid- to late-lactation.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2026Article
- Lactate-Induced Lipid Accumulation in Hepatocytes through GPR81 Activation (Diabetes Metab J 2026;50:307-19).Diabetes & metabolism journal · 2026Article
- Estrogen deprivation induces hepatic inflammation, Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 1, tryptophan catabolism, and plasma cholesterol.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Post-Translational Regulation of CD8Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Histone lactylation modification and its role in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (Review).Biomedical reports · 2026Review
- Systemic Integrative Mechanisms and Intervention Strategies in Exercise-Induced Skeletal Muscle Damage: Evidence from Animal, Clinical, and Multi-Omics Studies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Lactate-Driven Reprogramming of Monocyte Bridges Bone Loss in Inflammatory Comorbidities.Biomolecules · 2026Article
- Review
- Lactic Acid in Tumour Biology.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Lactate Metabolism and Protein Lactylation in Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Narrative Review.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2026Review
- Metabolic reprogramming networks in the gastric cancer tumor microenvironment: an integrated axis of nutrient competition, metabolic crosstalk, and immunosuppression.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Microbiotherapy: an emerging adjunct for burn wound healing.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Lactate, a Spearhead of Cancer Aggressiveness: Metabolic Reprogramming, Immune Suppression, and Metastatic Progression.Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre · 2026Review
- Lactate metabolism and protein lactylation in colorectal cancer: from metabolic reprogramming to epigenetic regulation.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Lactate, once regarded as a metabolic byproduct, is now recognized as a critical immunometabolic regulator that shapes immune responses in both physiological and pathological contexts. This review examines how lactate accumulation occurs across diverse disease settings, including cancer, sepsis, and diabetes, through mechanisms such as hypoxia, mitochondrial dysfunction, and pharmacologic intervention. We then explore how lactate modulates immunity via four integrated mechanisms: transporter-mediated flux, receptor signaling (e.g., GPR81), context-dependent metabolic rewiring, and histone/protein lactylation. Particular emphasis is placed on the dichotomous effects of endogenous versus exogenous lactate, with the former supporting glycolytic effector functions and the latter reprogramming immune cells toward regulatory phenotypes via redox shifts and epigenetic remodeling. The review also highlights how the directionality of lactate transport, and the metabolic readiness of the cell determine, whether lactate sustains inflammation or promotes resolution. After analyzing emerging data across immune cell subsets and disease contexts, we propose that lactate serves as a dynamic rheostat that integrates environmental cues with intracellular metabolic and epigenetic programming. Understanding these context-dependent mechanisms is essential for the rational design of lactate-targeted immunotherapies that aim to modulate immune responses without disrupting systemic homeostasis.
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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.