Chapter 23, Problem 23.66E

Lactate dehydrogenase catalyzes the following equilibrium reaction in both liver and muscle cells:

$\text{pyruvate}\text{+}\text{NADH}\text{+}{\text{H}}^{\text{+}}\rightleftarrows \text{lactate}\text{+}{\text{NAD}}^{\text{+}}$

In terms of equilibrium, explain why lactate must be removed from muscle cells under anaerobic conditions and why lactate does not accumulate in the liver under these conditions. (Hint: Think of the Cori cycle.)