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Lactate and glucose metabolism in the resting and diving harbor seal (Phoca vitulina)

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Summary

The rates of lactate and glucose production, removal, and oxidation were measured in harbor seals before and after 10 min restrained dives using radioisotope tracer techniques. The results show:

  1. 1.

    Net turnover rates were 24 μmol·min−1·kg−1 for lactate and 12 μmol·min−1·kg−1 for glucose at rest (Table 2).

  2. 2.

    Only 21% of lactate turnover and 3% of glucose turnover were oxidized. Their combined oxidation contributed less than 9% to resting energy production.

  3. 3.

    During 10 min dives, there was 9 fold increase in lactate production.

  4. 4.

    Less than 27% of the lactate produced during diving was oxidized during recovery.

  5. 5.

    The blood glucose concentration decreased 1 mM during diving, but increased and remained elevated for 2 h after the dive (Fig. 5 and 6). The postdive hyperglycemia resulted from a high glucose entry rate which lasted 10–15 min after the dive. A peak entry rate of 168 μmol·min−1·kg−1 was measured 30 sec after a dive.

  6. 6.

    In spite of the postdive hyperglycemia, glucose oxidation was only 11% higher than predive levels.

  7. 7.

    The predive concentration of plasma free fatty acids (FFA) was similar to other arctic carnivores (Fig. 9).

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  1. Physiological Research Laboratory, A-004, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 92093, La Jolla, California, USA

    Randall W. Davis

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Davis, R.W. Lactate and glucose metabolism in the resting and diving harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). J Comp Physiol B 153, 275–288 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00689631

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