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Nitrite and Nitrate as a Treatment for Hypertension

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Nitrite and Nitrate in Human Health and Disease

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

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Abstract

Among the myriad approaches to target the pathophysiology of hypertension has been the delivery of vasodilatory nitric oxide. Traditional approaches using organic nitric oxide donors have not delivered benefits in clinical trials. Recent evidence suggests that provision of inorganic nitrate, via conversion to nitrite, reduces blood pressure in a dose-dependent manner in healthy subjects and delivers robust and consistent blood pressure reduction in hypertensive patients that could be projected to significantly reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, increasing evidence points to the importance of the entero-salivary circulation of nitrate to nitrite in setting basal blood pressure levels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. William Harvey Research Institute, Centre for Clinical Pharmacology, NIHR Biomedical Research Unit in Cardiovascular Disease at Barts, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London, UK, EC1M 6BQ

    Vikas Kapil MD MRCP PhD

  2. Barts Heart Centre, Barts BP Centre of Excellence, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, West Smithfield, London, UK, EC1A 7BE

    Vikas Kapil MD MRCP PhD

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  1. Vikas Kapil MD MRCP PhD
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Correspondence to Vikas Kapil MD MRCP PhD .

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  1. Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

    Nathan S. Bryan

  2. Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Joseph Loscalzo

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Kapil, V. (2017). Nitrite and Nitrate as a Treatment for Hypertension. In: Bryan, N., Loscalzo, J. (eds) Nitrite and Nitrate in Human Health and Disease. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46189-2_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46189-2_17

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46189-2

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