Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Respiratory alkalosis: no effect on blood lactate decline or exercise performance

  • Published:
European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

It was the purpose of this study to determine the effects of respiratory alkalosis before and after high intensity exercise on recovery blood lactate concentration. Five subjects were studied under three different acid-base conditions before and after 45 s of maximal effort exercise: 1) hyperventilating room air before exercise (Respiratory Alkalosis Before=RALB, 2) hyperventilating room air during recovery (Respiratory Alkalosis After=RALA), and 3) breathing room air normally throughout rest and recovery (Control =C). RALB increased blood pH during rest to 7.65±0.03 while RALA increased blood pH to 7.57±0.03 by 40 min of recovery. Neither alkalosis treatment had a significant effect on blood lactate concentration during recovery. The peak lactate values of 12.3±1.2 mmol · L−1 for C, 11.8±1.2 mmol · L−1 for RALB, and 10.2±0.9 mmol · L−1 for RALA were not significantly different, nor were the half-times (t 1/2) for the decline in blood lactate concentration; C=18.2 min, RALB=19.3 min, and RALA=18.2 min. In C, RALB and RALA, the change in base excess from rest to postexercise was greater than the concomitant increase in blood lactate concentration, suggesting the presence of a significant amount of acid in the blood in addition to lactic acid. There was no significant difference in either the total number of cycle revolutions (C=77±2, RALB=77±1) or power output at 5 s intervals between RALB and C during the 45 s. These results suggest that the possible range of respiratory alkalosis changes in intact humans may be insufficient 1) to affect recovery blood lactate concentrations, or 2) to affect intense, short-term exercise performance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bouhuys A, Pool J, Binkhorst RA, Van Leeuwen P (1966) Metabolic acidosis of exercise in healthy males. J Appl Physiol 21:1040–1046

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnell JM (1968) In vivo response of muscle to changes in CO2 tension or extracellular bicarbonate. Am J Physiol 215:1376–1383

    Google Scholar 

  • Costill DL, Verstappen F, Kuipers H, Janssen E, Fink W (1984) Acid-base balance during repeated bouts of exercise: influence of HCO3. Int J Sports Med 5:228–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies SF, Iber C, Keene SA, McArthur CD, Path MJ (1986) Effect of respiratory alkalosis during exercise on blood lactate. J Appl Physiol 61:948–952

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobson GP, Yamamoto E, Hochachka PW (1986) Phosphofructokinase control in muscle: nature and reversal of pH-dependent ATP inhibition. Am J Physiol 250:R71-R76

    Google Scholar 

  • Doll E, Keul J, Maiwald C (1968) Oxygen tension and acid-base equilibria in venous blood of working muscle. Am J Physiol 215:23–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrsam RE, Heigenhauser GJF, Jones NL (1982) Effect of respiratory acidosis on metabolism in exercise. J Appl Physiol 53:63–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Eldridge F, Salzer J (1967) Effect of respiratory alkalosis on blood lactate and pyruvate in humans. J Appl Physiol 22:461–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Forster HV, Dempsey JA, Thomson J, Vidruk E, DoPico GA (1972) Estimation of arterial\(P_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} } , P_{{\text{CO}}_{\text{2}} } \), pH, and lactate from arterialized venous blood. J Appl Physiol 32:134–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerin-Portier N (1971) Effect of O2 desaturation on the determination of blood\(P_{{\text{CO}}_{\text{2}} } \) by the Astrup method. Respir Physiol 12:261–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham TE, Wilson BA, Sample M, Van Dijk J, Goslin B (1982) The effects of hypercapnia on the metabolic response to steady-state exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc 14:286–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenhaff PL, Maughan RJ (1987) Respiratory alkalosis and the performance of high-intensity exercise in man. J Physiol 386:68P

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutmann I, Wahlefeld AW (1974) L-(+)-lactate. Determination with lactate dehydrogenase and NAD. In: Bergmeyer U (ed) Methods of enzymatic analysis 2nd ed. Academic Press Inc., New York, pp 1464–1468

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirche HJ, Hombach V, Langohr HD, Wacker U, Busse J (1975) Lactic acid permeation rate in working gastrocnemii of dogs during metabolic alkalosis and acidosis. Pflügers Arch 356:209–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes EF, Turner SC, Brooks GA (1982) Effects of glycogen depletion and pedaling speed on “anaerobic threshold”. J Appl Physiol 52:1598–1607

    Google Scholar 

  • Hultman E, Sahlin K (1980) Acid-base balance during exercise. Exercise Sport Sci Rev 8:41–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones NL, Sutton JR, Taylor R, Toews CJ (1977) Effect of pH on cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses to exercise. J Appl Physiol 43:959–964

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz A, Sahlin K, Juhlin-Dannfelt A (1985) Effect ofβ-adrenoceptor blockade onH + andK + flux in exercising humans. J Appl Physiol 59:336–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Mainwood GW, Renaud JM (1985) The effect of acid-base balance on fatigue of skeletal muscle. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 63:403–416

    Google Scholar 

  • Mainwood GW, Worsley-Brown P (1975) The effects of extracellular pH and buffer concentration on the efflux of lactate from frog sartorius muscle. J Physiol (Lond) 250:1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Manfredi F (1963) Calculation of total body intracellular pH in normal human subjects from the distribution of 5,5-dimethyl-2,4-oxazolidinedione (DMO). J Lab Clin Med 61:1005–1014

    Google Scholar 

  • Manfredi F (1967) Effects of hypocapnia and hypercapnia on intracellular acid-base equilibrium in man. J Lab Clin Med 69:304–312

    Google Scholar 

  • McCartney N, Heigenhauser GJF, Jones NL (1983) Effects of pH on maximal power output and fatigue during shortterm dynamic exercise. J Appl Physiol 55:225–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Medbo JI, Sejersted OM (1985) Acid-base and electrolyte balance after exhausting exercise in endurance-trained and sprint-trained subjects. Acta Physiol Scand 125:97–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Osnes J-B, Hermansen L (1972) Acid-balance after maximal exercise of short duration. J Appl Physiol 32:59–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Roos A (1975) Intracellular pH and distribution of weak acids across cell membrane. A study of D- and L-lactate and of DMO in rat diaphragm. J Physiol (Lond) 249:1–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Roos A, Boron WF (1981) Intracellular pH. Physiol Rev 61:297–434

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahlin K, Alvestrand A, Brandt R, Hultman E (1978) Acid-base balance in blood during exhaustive bicycle exercise and the following recovery period. Acta Physiol Scand 104:370–372

    Google Scholar 

  • Severinghaus JW (1958) Oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve correction for temperature and pH variation in human blood. J Appl Physiol 12:485–486

    Google Scholar 

  • Siggaard-Andersen O (1974) The acid-base status of the blood 4th ed. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Spriet LL, Lindinger MI, Heigenhauser GJF, Jones NL (1986) Effects of alkalosis on skeletal muscle metabolism and performance during exercise. Am J Physiol 251:R833–839

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutton JR, Jones NL, Toews CJ (1981) Effect of pH on muscle glycolysis during exercise. Clin Sci 61:331–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivedi B, Danforth WH (1966) Effect of pH on the kinetics of frog muscle phosphofructokinase. J Biol Chem 241:4110–4114

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Division of Allied Health, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, 40292, Louisville, KY, USA

    John A. Morrow, Ronald D. Fell & L. Bruce Gladden

Authors
  1. John A. Morrow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ronald D. Fell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. L. Bruce Gladden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Morrow, J.A., Fell, R.D. & Gladden, L.B. Respiratory alkalosis: no effect on blood lactate decline or exercise performance. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 58, 175–181 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00636623

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00636623

Key words

Search

Navigation