Effects of Dietary Nitrate Supplementation on Cardiorespiratory Control in Chronic Heart Failure

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although affecting the heart at first, it is now recognized that disability is largely due to impaired cerebral and skeletal muscle blood flow and consequently microvascular oxygenation. Reduced muscle oxygenation compromises oxidative metabolism and thus contractile performance. Impaired cerebral oxygenation not only reduces motor output (thus exacerbating muscle fatigue) but also constitutes a predictor of cerebral ischemic events and an independent prognostic risk factor.

Reduced levels of the vasodilator nitric oxide (NO) contribute to impaired blood flow and oxygenation in CHF. Development of new effective therapeutic strategies is therefore crucial given that current pharmacological treatment has failed to abrogate oxygenation deficits in CHF patients. Emerging evidence shows that nitrate serves as an alternative source for NO and improves muscle blood flow and oxygenation in health. Another striking feature of nitrate is that it can improve muscle work efficiency, a tenet of physiology that was once considered immutable.

Objective: To investigate systematically the role of dietary nitrate supplementation on central and peripheral cardiovascular function in CHF patients.

Inclusion criteria

• previous diagnosis of systolic heart failure (left ventricular ejection fraction <40%) under optimized clinical treatment as judged by the accompanying physician.

Exclusion criteria

• hospital admission in the previous 6 weeks;
• exercise training program in the previous 6 months;
• nitrate therapy (e.g., isosorbide dinitrate);
• tabagism;
• any condition that could interfere with the ability to exercise;
• diagnosed psychiatric or cognitive disorders;
• type I insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus;
• excessively over-weight (BMI>35kg/m²);
• other diagnosed cardiorespiratory disorders (e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral artery disease).