Wendell N. Stainsby, Sc.D. Professor Emeritus stainsby@phys.med.ufl.edu Publications: Search PubMed

The research in my laboratory is concerned with mammalian skeletal muscle. How does skeletal muscle control its blood flow to meet its extremely wide range of metabolic demands? When contractions are initiated, skeletal muscles transiently produce lactic acid, much of which diffuses into the blood. What is the cause of the lactic acid production? Is maximal VO₂ (oxygen uptake) a result of reaching the capacity of the blood to provide O₂ to muscle? Blood flow is a profound effector of VO₂ during contractions. We are seeking the mechanism of this response. The origin of fatigue in endurance activity is poorly understood. Is fatigue simply due to disruption of the intracellular environment or is it a controlled downregulation of metabolism and contractions to prevent damage?