Effect of lactic acidosis on the generation and compensation of mixed respiratory-metabolic acidosis in neonatal calves

摘要

Fetal asphyxia is accountable for most calf losses during parturition or the first few days of life. Fetal asphyxia is characterised by mixed respiratory-metabolic acidosis. The respiratory component of the acidosis is generated by carbon dioxide accumulating in the fetus while the metabolic component is the accumulation of L-lactate due to anaerobic glycolysis in poorly perfused fetal tissues during parturition. This study tested the hypothesis that L-lactate plays a significant role in neonatal acidosis subsequent to asphyxia. Immediately after birth, L-lactate concentration was more strongly correlated with pH | than the partial pressure of carbon dioxide t (pC0_2), hence the metabolic component i of acidosis was larger than the respiratory component.