Apparently and specifically the Cori Cycle, also known under the name of “lactic acid cycle”, is the one that tries to describe the metabolic process from which the lactic acid produced by muscle cells through anaerobic glycosis , reaches the liver and is transformed into glucose.
This route, to call it somehow, was first mentioned by biochemists Carl Ferdinand Cori and Gerty Theresa Cori in 1929, and winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1947 , already for the discovery of the catabolic conversion of glycogen.
What is the Cori Cycle?
The general guidelines of the Cori Cycle explain that all muscle activity requires, to be carried out, the consumption of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the molecule from which the energy necessary for such effects is taken, obtained by the metabolization of glucose .
In turn, the presence of glucose is understood from the blood circulation and the constant breakdown of glycogen deposits in the muscles, although eventually, especially in prolonged physical activities, the metabolization of fat or lipolysis also participates.
As we mentioned, the metabolization of glucose has its beginning in glycolysis, when it passes from its first state to that of pyruvate, through which each glucose molecule gives way to ATP and NADH molecules that, in contact with oxygen, continue to multiply.
However, when we undergo intensive training, oxygen does not come fast enough to ensure perseverance of this internal mechanism, so NADH stops burning and triggers lactic fermentation, in which NAD + is already involved.
It is then when the lactate resulting from the above enters the bloodstream to the liver, developing the second stage of the Cori Cycle, as detailed by its authors.
Already in this organ, lactate returns to its glucose state through glucogenesis , and can be used again as an energy source when the body demands it, until physical activity ceases. When that happens, the Cori Cycle will restart with “normal” aerobic breathing.
Finally, it should be known that a forceful and repeated training can cause a rapid production of lactic acid that can exceed the capacity of the liver. If this happens, the blood pH will drop to levels that are too dangerous , risking disorders such as lactic acidosis, easy to distinguish by the following symptoms: decay, nausea and cramps.
