Metabolic acidosis and the importance of balanced equations

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

Balancing biochemical equations for both mass and charge in metabolic networks is critical but unfortunately ignored too often. Failure to do so, for example, results in a common misconception about the origin of protons during lactic fermentation. Lactate, rather than lactic acid, is produced by glycolysis, and its production is a mechanism for alleviating intracellular acidosis due to glycolysis. This error is at the core of some recent papers, and is often ambiguous in biochemistry textbooks.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)163-165
Number of pages3
JournalMetabolomics
Volume5
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This work was supported by Kentucky Challenge for Excellence; National Science Foundation/EPSCoR program.

Keywords

  • Balanced equation
  • Lactic acidosis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Biochemistry
  • Clinical Biochemistry

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