The role played by lactate as an energy substrate for the newborn rat during the early neonatal period was studied. Plasma lactate is mostly removed within the first 2 h after delivery, i.e. during the presuckling period. Lactate removal was enhanced by hyperoxia but strongly inhibited by hypoxia, showing a direct correlation with blood oxygen concentrations. Lactate was not converted into glucose during the presuckling period, gluconeogenesis being insignificant in these circumstances; instead it was rapidly oxidized through the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Likewise, lactate was significantly oxidized by brain slices from newborns at birth. At physiological concentrations, lactate oxidation by brain slices was 10- and 3-fold higher than that of glucose and 3-hydroxybutyrate, respectively. In the same circumstances, lipogenesis de novo from lactate was 2- and 5-fold higher than from glucose and 3-hydroxybutyrate, respectively. The results suggest that lactate is the main metabolic fuel for the brain during the early neonatal period.