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Abstract
The dietary constituent inorganic nitrate, found in large concentrations in green leafy vegetables, has beneficial effects on cardiometabolic health. Contemporary studies employing nitrate have demonstrated that the anion has anti-obesity and anti-diabetic properties; however the nitrate-mediated mechanisms for improving metabolic health remain unclear. Recently, we employed a combined histological, metabolomics, and transcriptional and protein analysis approach to establish that nitrate promoted the “browning” of white adipose tissue via the xanthine oxidoreductase catalyzed reductive nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway. Interestingly, it was observed that nitrate-stimulated brown adipose-associated gene expression in white adipose tissue was augmented in hypoxia. These findings not only suggest that protection from metabolic disease offered by vegetable consumption may, in part, be mediated through the effects of nitrate on white adipose tissue, but also, since hypoxia is a serious co-morbidity affecting adipose tissue in obese individuals, that nitrate may be effective in promoting the browning of adipose tissue to improve metabolic fitness.
Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest
No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.
Funding
Dr. Lee Roberts is supported by the MRC-Human Nutrition Research Elsie Widdowson Fellowship and supported by the Lipid Profiling and signaling program (MC_UP_A90_1006).