Key result
Dietary nitrate ingestion improves macrovascular function but shows only modest effects on microvascular function.
Why the study?
Because nitric oxide may have different effects across macro- and microvasculature due to distinct vessel characteristics, evaluating the impact of dietary nitrate on both vascular beds in humans is necessary.
Does dietary nitrate ingestion improve macro- and microvascular function in humans?
Systematic Review
Does dietary nitrate ingestion improve macro- and microvascular function in humans?
Dietary nitrate supplementation improves macrovascular function, but its effects on microvascular function are modest.
Supports nitrate for macrovascular benefits in practice; extends evidence by differentiating macro- vs microvascular effects.
Previous studies have investigated the impact of dietary nitrate on vascular function due to the association between dietary nitrate ingestion and improvement in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. Considering that NO can present different effects through vascular beds (macro- vs. microvasculature) due to the specific characteristic (function and morphology) that each vessel exhibits, it is crucial to investigate the effect of dietary nitrate ingestion on the macro- and microvascular function to understand the effect of nitrate on vascular function. For this reason, this review aimed to evaluate the impact of dietary nitrate on macro- and microvascular function in humans. A total of 29 studies were included in the systematic review, of which 19 studies evaluated the effect of nitrate supplementation on macrovascular function, eight studies evaluated the effect on microvascular function, and two studies evaluated the impact on both macro- and microvascular function. The literature suggests that dietary nitrate ingestion seems to improve the vascular function in macrovasculature, whereas microvascular function appears to be modest. Future studies investigating the effect of nitrate ingestion on vascular function should focus on measuring macro- and microvascular function whenever possible so that the impact of nitrate-rich foods on vascular segments could be better understood.
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Volino‐Souza et al. (2022) conducted a systematic review in Vascular function. Dietary nitrate was evaluated on Macro- and microvascular function. Dietary nitrate ingestion appears to improve macrovascular function, whereas its effect on microvascular function appears to be modest based on a systematic review of 29 studies.