BLOOD LACTATE CONCENTRATIONS DURING EXERCISE - EFFECT OF SAMPLING SITE AND EXERCISE MODE

Background. The purpose of the study was to compare blood lactate conc entrations determined in blood sampled from three sites (finger capill ary, ear-lobe capillary, and forearm vein) during exercise on three di fferent ergometers (a cycle ergometer, a treadmill and an arm-crank er gometer), Methods, A total of 312 well-trained subjects performed eith er a six-minute steady-state exercise (n=219) or an incremental exerci se test until exhaustion (n=93), Blood was sampled from two sites afte r each exercise test and at the end of each stage of the incremental p rotocol, 852 pairs of blood samples were analysed. Results. Results sh owed that, when exercise was performed on a cycle ergometer or a tread mill, no significant differences between venous and ear capillary samp les were observed whereas finger capillary values were higher. On an a rm-crank ergometer, venous and finger capillary lactate concentrations were usually higher than ear capillary values with some discrepancies depending on the times of sampling. Conclusions, We conclude that lac tate values may differ depending on the sampling site and the type of exercise mode, An ear capillary sample may be preferred because it is less affected by lactate release in the arms and easier to obtain.