Post-exercise hypotension and skeletal muscle oxygenation is regulated by nitrate-reducing activity of oral bacteria.

This study investigated whether the nitrate-reducing activity of oral bacteria is a key mechanism to trigger PEH. Following a randomized, double blind and crossover design, twenty-three healthy individuals (15 males/8 females) completed two treadmill trials at moderate intensity. After exercise, participants rinsed their mouth with antibacterial mouthwash to inhibit the activity of oral bacteria or a placebo mouthwash. Blood pressure was measured before, 1 and 2 h after exercise. The microvascular response to a reactive hyperaemia test, as well as, blood and salivary samples were taken before and 2 h after exercise to analyse nitrate and nitrite concentrations and the oral microbiome. As expected, systolic blood pressure (SBP) was lower (1 h: -5.2 ± 1.0 mmHg; P < 0.001); 2 h: -3.8 ± 1.1 mmHg, P = 0.005) after exercise compared to baseline in the placebo condition. This was accompanied by an increase of circulatory nitrite 2 h after exercise (2h: 100 ± 13 nM) compared to baseline (59 ± 9 nM; P = 0.013). Additionally, an increase in the peak of the tissue oxygenation index (TOI) during the reactive hyperaemia response was observed after exercise (86.1 ± 0.6%) compared to baseline levels (84.8 ± 0.5%; P = 0.010) in the placebo condition. On the other hand, the SBP-lowering effect of exercise at was attenuated by 61% at 1 h in the recovery period, and it was fully attenuated 2 h after exercise with antibacteri...
Source: Free Radical Biology and Medicine - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: Free Radic Biol Med Source Type: research