Plasma lactate as a marker of metabolic health: Implications of elevated lactate for impairment of aerobic metabolism in the metabolic syndrome

Background Fasting lactate is elevated in metabolic diseases and could possibly be predictive of the risk of developing the metabolic syndrome. Methods Plasma samples were analyzed for fasting lactate to compare lean subjects, nondiabetic subjects with severe obesity, and metabolically impaired subjects. Subjects with severe obesity were studied 1 week before and 1 week to 9 months after gastric bypass surgery. Subjects with components of the...