Hughes WE, Treichler DP, Ueda K, et al. - In peripheral artery disease (PAD) patients, a reduction in blood pressure (BP) responsiveness to sympatho-excitatory stimuli was evident following eight-weeks of sodium nitrate (NaNO ₃ ) supplementation in this study.

• This study involved 21 patients with PAD undergoing 8-weeks of NaNO ₃ (n=13; 73±9 years) or placebo (n=8; 69±10 years) supplementation.

• Before and after supplementation, BP responsiveness to a cold pressor test (CPT) were assessed.

• Due to NaNO ₃ supplementation, a decrease in the systolic BP response (change from rest) was evident during the first (26±10 vs 19±11mmHg) and second minutes (32±10 vs 26±12mmHg) of CPT; this was not seen with placebo (first minute: 22±10 vs 24±10mmHg; second minute 26±10 vs 27±10mmHg).