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Previous Volume 356:1590 April 12, 2007 Number 15 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: Larsen and colleagues (Dec. 28 issue)¹ report that oral nitrate (NO₃^-) can lower mean arterial blood pressure and is associated with an elevation in blood levels of nitrite (NO₂^-). They point out that nitrate is reduced by oral bacteria to nitrite, which can be converted into nitric oxide or absorbed, and they suggest that the mechanism involved in the blood-pressure–lowering effect needs to be clarified.

In studies conducted over the past 5 years, we have shown that nitrite is an intrinsic vasodilator.^2,3 Within the vasculature, nitrite is reduced to nitric oxide by reaction with deoxygenating . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Related Letters:

Effects of Dietary Nitrate on Blood Pressure in Healthy Volunteers
Larsen F. J., Ekblom B., Sahlin K., Lundberg J. O., Weitzberg E.
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N Engl J Med 2006; 355:2792-2793, Dec 28, 2006. Correspondence

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• Elrod, J. W., Calvert, J. W., Gundewar, S., Bryan, N. S., Lefer, D. J. (2008). Nitric oxide promotes distant organ protection: Evidence for an endocrine role of nitric oxide. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 11430-11435 [Abstract] [Full Text]