Project R-16865

Uncovering the metabolic and signalling effects of exogenous lactate: from mechanistic insight to ergogenic and therapeutic potential. (Research)

Despite promising evidence that lactate addresses key metabolic constraints in both disease and exercise contexts, applications of exogenous lactate remain restricted to hospital settings due to the requirement of intravenous delivery of sodium lactate. During my research stay at Aarhus University (Denmark), I identified that a novel lactate-ketone ester (LaKe) dose-dependently increases circulating lactate at rest and during exercise without adverse effects. This breakthrough provides an unprecedented opportunity to uncover the precise impact of lactate on whole-body and skeletal muscle metabolism at rest and during exercise, and characterize its potential to mimic exercise-induced signalling. Work package (WP) 1 quantifies the dose- and exercise-intensity-dependent effects of LaKe on whole-body substrate metabolism using gold-standard stable-isotope tracers. WP2 integrates deep metabolomic profiling to provide a comprehensive characterization of its impact on skeletal muscle metabolism during exercise, and its resulting effect on exercise performance. Finally, transcriptomic analyses will determine whether exogenous lactate can mimic exercise-induced signalling. This research establishes evidence-based dosing protocols and fundamental mechanistic insights required to translate oral lactate into a therapeutic intervention for metabolic disorders and exercise-limited populations.

01 October 2026 - 30 September 2029