Potential use of lactate for the treatment of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

Function of lactate:Lactate is a three-carbon molecule produced by glycolytic metabolism that is a metabolic waste product with no known use in clinical therapy.Conversely,it is a metabolite that the body should quickly guarantee the clearance.However,lactate is now recognized as a potential energy substrate,as well as an anti-inflammatory signaling molecule.These actions were first reported in adult animal models with a brain injury,including a traumatic brain injury and cerebral ischemia,and have also been observed in human patients (Magistretti and Allaman,2018).Recently,however,two studies by independent research groups described promising n euro p rotective results from the use of lactate in animal models with neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (Roumes et al., 2021;Tassinari et al., 2020).