Figure 3.

Principle of the relationship between lactate production, systemic blood lactate concentration, and flux direction along a gradient. With a low blood La concentration, cells producing La are able to shuttle La to the system along an outward gradient (Left). Increasing La concentration in blood with anaerobic muscular exercise reverses the gradient, and cells trying to produce La are limited to shuttle La against the gradient, inducing intracellular acidification and subsequent inhibition of La production (Right).