Search

Information about topics discussed at a symposium held in Sweden from June 17-18, 2009 on the current advances in understanding the role of nitrate (NO) and nitrate in biology, nutrition and therapeutics is presented. Topics include on how NO regulates the mitochondrial function, a review on the components of respiratory chain that reduce nitrite to NO and the bioactivation of nitrite. The symposium featured several lecturers including Salvador Moncada, Sruti Shiva, and Bruce Freeman.

The relationship between mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and hematocrit (Hct) was studied in pre- and postmenopause women in the city of Durango, Mexico. Premenopause women show a negative trend between parameters that is not statistically significant. MAP and Hct are directly related in postmenopause women (p < 0.01). It is proposed that that this MAP/Hct relationship is in part due to differences in endothelial function where menopause decreases the capacity of the endothelium to respond to increased blood viscosity and shears stress, leading to the increased production of vasodilator mediators to compensate for changes in blood viscosity due to changes in Hct. Comparison with a large group of postmenopause women in the city of Stockholm showed identical trends.