Localized magnetic resonance spectroscopy measurement of brain lactate during intravenous lactate infusion in healthy volunteers.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) localized to the left temporal-parietal region in 8 healthy volunteers detected a 2.1-fold +/- 0.7-fold increase (all values +/-SD) in brain lactate during intravenous infusion of 0.5 molar (M) sodium lactate (5 meq/kg over 20 minutes). Significant increases in brain lactate occurred within 5-10 minutes after starting lactate infusion, progressively rose during the infusion, then decreased towards baseline levels during 30 minutes post-infusion. Venous lactate concentration increased from 0.8 +/- 0.2 mM to 10.9 +/- 4.1 mM or 13.6-fold during the infusion. Flow phantom findings in vitro suggest attenuation of 1H MRS blood lactate signal from arteries and veins as a result of flow velocity effects. Correlations between paired blood and brain lactate measurements at each sampling time indicate a non-linear relationship between compartments during lactate infusion.