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            Auburn University - University Relations
                         (334) 844-9999
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 8/4/95                        Mitch Emmons (emmonmb@mail.auburn.edu)

AU RESEARCHER PROBING LACTATE METABOLISM IN MUSCLE TISSUE
     AUBURN -- Scientists once thought that lactic acid -- a
chemical  produced by muscles during physical activity -- only
caused sore muscles,  but research at Auburn University professor
is looking at the possibility  that it may also be an important
source of body fuel.
     Bruce Gladden, a professor in the Department of Health and
Human   Performance, is conducting the research with support from
the National  Institutes of Health.
     "It's really a study of basic muscle physiology and 
biochemistry," he said. "However, it has implications for exercise 
physiology, training and certain clinical situations as well."
     Scientists historically believed that lactic acid causes of 
muscle soreness, muscle contractions and is responsible for an
increased  metabolic rate following exercise, Gladden says.
     "Most of those opinions have now been discounted," he added,
"But  we do believe that it plays a role in muscle fatigue . . .
also, that it  may be a way of distributing fuel through the body."
     Gladden says that under mild to moderate exercise, muscles 
apparently actually take lactic acid from the blood for use as fuel
--  just as they use blood sugar.
     "Key questions to be addressed are what signals switch muscles 
form net producers of lactate to net consumers of lactate, and how
does  lactate traverse muscle cell membranes?," he said.
     Using advanced computer models, Gladden is developing a 
comprehensive picture of how the chemical compound moves through
the  muscle cells.
     "This is basic research that can lead to information for 
determining proper amounts of exercise for using lactic acid as
fuel," he  said. "However, it has relevance to causes of muscle
fatigue, recovery,  and a variety of clinical applications."
     Conditions such as liver malfunction, heart attack and 
hemorrhaging can cause the body to produce high levels of lactic
acid,  says Gladden. Learning more about at what levels and under
what  conditions lactic acid is harmful and at which it is helpful
can be  important medical information.
     "To whatever extent we can learn exactly what triggers muscle
to  become either a consumer or a producer of lactic acid,
theoretically, it  would have application to a variety of clinical
situations," he said. # # #

aug95:AU-lactic
     CONTACT: Gladden, 334/844-1466 (gladdlb@mail.auburn.edu).