The acute effects of dietary nitrate supplementation on postmenopausal endothelial resistance to ischemia reperfusion injury: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind, crossover clinical trial

Postmenopausal cardiovascular health is a critical determinant of longevity. Consumption of beetroot juice (BR) and other nitrate-rich foods is a safe, effective non-pharmaceutical intervention to increase systemic bioavailability of the vasoprotective molecule, nitric oxide, through the exogenous nitrate (NO 3 − )–nitrite (NO 2 − )–nitric oxide (NO) pathway. We hypothesized that a single dose of nitrate-rich beetroot juice (BR nitrate 600 mg NO 3 − /140 mL, BR placebo ∼ 0 mg/140 mL) would improve resting endothelial function and resistance to ischemia–reperfusion (IR) injury to a greater extent in early-postmenopausal (1–6 years following their final menstrual period (FMP), n = 12) compared to late-postmenopausal (6+ years after FMP, n = 12) women. Analyses with general linear models revealed a significant ( p < 0.05) time * treatment interaction effect for brachial artery adjusted flow-mediated dilation (FMD). Pairwise comparisons revealed that adjusted FMD was significantly lower following IR-injury in comparison to all other time points with BR placebo (early FMD 2.51 ± 1.18%, late FMD 1.30 ± 1.10, p < 0.001) and was lower than post-IR with BR nitrate (early FMD 3.84 ± 1.21%, late FMD 3.21 ± 1.13%, p = 0.014). A single dose of BR nitrate significantly increased resting macrovascular function in the late postmenopausal group only ( p = 0.005). Considering the postmenopausal stage-dependent variations in endothelial responsiveness to dietary nitrate, we predict differing mechanisms underpin macrovascular protection against IR injury.