Effects of lactate on glucose metabolism in healthy subjects and in severely injured hyperglycemic patients

When exogenous glucose is used to suppress glycogenolysis in healthy humans, the autoregulation of hepatic glucose production during infusion of lactate is present. In case of hyperglycemic patients with metabolic stress autoregulation it is not abolished. Hyperglycemia is not likely to be responsible for the increase in supply of gluconeogenic precursors with defective autoregulation of hepatic glucose production.