Work

Dietary Nitrate Lowers Blood Pressure: Epidemiological, Pre-clinical Experimental and Clinical Trial Evidence

Year: 2016

Type: review

Abstract: Nitric oxide (NO), a potent vasodilator critical in maintaining vascular homeostasis, can reduce blood pressure in vivo. Loss of constitutive NO generation, for example as a result of endothelial dysfunction, occurs in many pathological conditions, including hypertension, and contributes to disease pathology. Attempts to therapeutically deliver NO via organic nitrates (e.g. glyceryl trinitrate, GTN) to reduce blood pressure in hypertensives have been largely unsuccessful. However, in recent years inorganic (or 'dietary') nitrate has been identified as a potential solution for NO delivery through its sequential chemical reduction via the enterosalivary circuit. With dietary nitrate found in abundance in vegetables this review discusses epidemiological, pre-clinical and clinical data supporting the idea that dietary nitrate could represent a cheap and effective dietary intervention capable of reducing blood pressure and thereby improving cardiovascular health.

Source: Current Hypertension Reports

DOI: 10.1007/s11906-015-0623-4

Authors: Lorna C. Gee, Amrita Ahluwalia

Institutions: Queen Mary University of London, William Harvey Research Institute

Language: English

Topic: Nitric Oxide and Endothelin Effects

Subfield: Physiology (medical)

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,590