The infrared Raman spectroscopy is a technique that could be employed in the future in physical evaluations, specifically to non-invasive determinations of the muscle amounts of lactate. Raman spectroscopy supplies a wealth of details provided by the molecule vibrational levels of energy, representing the "fingerprint" of the molecules. In previous studies the Raman spectra of lactic acid in human plasma and rat blood were obtained, where characteristic peaks of this compound in the biological matrix were clearly observed. In this study, Raman spectroscopy was used in order to determinate the skeletal muscle amounts of lactic acid using the experimental model of rat tibial muscle. For this purpose the authors used a system composed by a Ti:saphire laser tuned at 830 nm, a spectrometer Kaiser f/l.8 and a CCD detector refrigerated with liquid nitrogen. Holographic Kaiser filters were employed to reduce back-scattered radiation by the sample. The Raman spectrum of the lactic acid presented several sharp and well-resolved peaks in the frequency range between 700 and 1,500 cm-1. The principal Raman peak at 830 was used to detect the presence of the lactic acid in the rat tibial muscle. Raman spectra of tibial muscles of rats were taken in vivo and in vitro. The diffusion of the lactic acid through the muscle, in vitro, was also monitored. The results suggest that near infrared Raman spectroscopy, in the future, could be an alternative technique for physical evaluation, allowing measurements of the lactic acid concentration in skeletal muscle, through a non-invasive method.
Lactic acid; Raman spectroscopy; Skeletal rat muscle
