Simultaneous determination of lactate and pyruvate in human sweat using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography: a noninvasive approach

The simultaneous determination of lactate and pyruvate in sweat has been performed using reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) with UV detection at 220 nm. The calibration curves were linear in the investigated range 0.3 - 350 mm of lactate, 0.003- 1 mm of pyruvate. The sensitivity was good with a limit of detection of 0.03 mm for lactate and 0.001 mm for pyruvate. Recoveries evaluated for the entire procedure were 102 ± 0.1 and 96 ± 0.1for lactate and pyruvate, respectively. The method was successfully applied to analysis of sweat in 8 athletes at rest (pilocarpine sweating) and during physical exercise.