It is rocket science - why dietary nitrate is hard to 'beet'! Part I: twists and turns in the realization of the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway.
Dietary nitrate (found in green leafy vegetables, such as rocket, and in beetroot) is now recognized to be an important source of nitric oxide (NO), via the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway. Dietary nitrate confers several cardiovascular beneficial effects on blood pressure, platelets, endothelial function, mitochondrial efficiency and exercise. While this pathway may now seem obvious, its realization followed a rather tortuous course over two decades. Early steps included the discovery that nitrite was a source of NO in the ischaemic heart but this appeared to have deleterious effects. In addition, nitrate-derived nitrite provided a gastric source of NO. However, residual nitrite was not thought to be absorbed systemically. Nitrite was also considered to be physiologically inert but potentially carcinogenic, through N-nitrosamine formation. In Part 1 of a two-part Review on the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway we describe key twists and turns in the elucidation of the pathway and the underlying mechanisms. This provides the critical foundation for the more recent developments in the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway which are covered in Part 2.
['Khatri|Jibran|J|', 'Mills|Charlotte Elizabeth|CE|', 'Maskell|Perry|P|', 'Odongerel|Chimed|C|', 'Webb|Andrew James|AJ|']
D000818:Animals D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases D038441:Diet, Mediterranean D006801:Humans D009566:Nitrates D009569:Nitric Oxide D009573:Nitrites
dietary nitrate blood pressure platelets endothelial function nitrite ischaemia-reperfusion