Key result
Lactate regulates cardiovascular health through HCAR1 signaling and histone lactylation beyond simple metabolism.
Why the study?
Lactate has emerged as a key regulator of cardiovascular health whose roles extend beyond energy metabolism to signaling and epigenetic regulation.
This review highlights the emerging understanding of lactate as a crucial regulatory molecule in cardiovascular physiology through metabolism, signaling, and epigenetic modifications, offering potential new therapeutic targets.
Lactate-modifying strategies merit exploration as cardiovascular targets; leaves open their safety and efficacy pending clinical trials.
Lactate, long regarded as a metabolic byproduct of anaerobic glycolysis, has emerged as a key regulator of cardiovascular health. Its roles extend beyond energy metabolism and include cell signaling through hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 1 (HCAR1/GPR81) and epigenetic regulation via lactylation. These interconnected mechanisms influence diverse processes in the cardiovascular system such as energy production, angiogenesis, inflammation, and fibrosis. In this review we provide a chronological exploration of lactate's functions, focusing on its role in cardiovascular physiology and with a particular emphasis on its role in epigenetics, highlighting the connecting points among these mechanisms and proposing areas for future research.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Konieczny et al. (2025) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease. Lactate was evaluated. Lactate is a versatile molecule that acts beyond energy metabolism, serving as a key regulator of cardiovascular health through cell signaling via HCAR1 and epigenetic regulation via lactylation.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: