Lactate, not lactic acid, is produced by cellular cytosolic energy catabolism (Letter to the Editor)

In the November issue of Physiology, Sun et al. (12) published a review describing the role of lactate as a multi-tissue autocrine regulatory molecule influencing multiple cellular and systemic physiological functions. Such functions included transmembrane H+ transport, enzyme regulation, downregulation of multi-tissue lipolysis, anti-inflammation, improved immune tolerance, stimulation of long-term memory, and improved wound healing including ischemic tissue injury, while deleteriously supporting cancer growth and metastasis. We acknowledge the detail and quality of the presentation of the contemporary evidence for the involvement of lactate in the regulation of these processes. Nevertheless, it is unfortunate that the authors referred to cellular lactate production as lactic acid, repeatedly associated cellular lactic acid production as a cause of acidosis, and used the term lactic acid within their title. Such repeated use, totaling 50 occurrences of “lactic acid” throughout the entirety of the manuscript, severely detracts from the scientitic quality of their work