Abstract
The blood lactate value at rest (Lacrest) is linked to cardiovascular
outcomes. It is unclear whether this association holds true in younger, healthy
subjects, especially as the pathophysiological connection between
Lacrest and cardiometabolic disease is not well understood. The
aim of this study is clarifying the link between Lacrest and
cardiovascular risk, and to study explanatory factors for the variance of
Lacrest concerning metabolism and physical activity in a
population of healthy patient-athletes. The distribution and intra-individual
variability of Lacrest was assessed based on 9051 samples. The
10-year cardiovascular risk was then approximated using the Framingham risk
score in a group of 1315 samples from patient-athletes. Cross-validated linear
regression was used to analyze explanatory variables for Lacrest and
10-year cardiovascular risk. Lacrest is weakly associated with the
Framingham score. This association disappears when adjusting for blood lipids.
Lacrest is also linked to the predominant type of exercise with
endurance athletes featuring a higher Lacrest. Lacrest
does not independently predict the estimated cardiovascular risk but is
associated with lipid parameters. Moreover, the intra-individual variability of
Lacrest is high in a relevant number of subjects, which does not
point towards the feasibility to use Lacrest as an individual risk
factor.
Key words
lactate - cardiovascular risk - blood lipids - glykolysis
