(947.24) The effects of dietary nitrate supplementation in post-menopausal women: Does timing matter?

Poster Board Number: E493

Jocelyn Delgado (The Pennsylvania State University), Jigar Gosalia (The Pennsylvania State University), Matthew Studinski (The Pennsylvania State University), Yasina Somani (Liverpool John Moores University), David Proctor (The Pennsylvania State University )

There is a need for low risk, non-estrogen therapies for cardiovascular disease prevention in post-menopausal women, a population expected to reach 1.2 billion worldwide by 2030. Consumption of beetroot juice and other nitrate-rich products (green leafy vegetables, supplements) is a promising non-pharmaceutical strategy for increasing circulating nitric oxide levels and improving vascular function in post-menopausal women. Whether time since menopause (reproductive age) influences the vasoprotective effects (arterial stiffness and endothelial function) of dietary nitrate supplementation has not been established.

Purpose: To determine the vascular protective mechanisms and efficacy of a nitric oxide boosting supplement (beetroot juice) in women at two post- menopausal stages (early- vs late-post menopause).

Methods: Early- (1-6 years following their final menstrual cycle, n=5) and late- (n=10) postmenopausal women consumed nitrate-rich (300 mg/70 mL) and nitrate-depleted beet root juice acutely and for 7 days. Percent brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was measured at baseline, acutely (90 minutes post-BRJ consumption), and 15-minutes and 30-minutes after 20-minute upper arm ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury for each drink. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was measured pre- and post- 7-day supplementation.

Results: Due to the nature of this double-blind trial, data presented are from the baseline (pre-juice consumption) visit only. Significant (plt;0.05) group differences were observed for baseline PWV (early = 1158+115 cm/s; late = 1469+296 cm/s) and FMD at the 30-minute post-IR injury timepoint (early = 8.4+4.6%; late = 5.8+2.7%).  No group differences were observed in FMD responses at rest (p=0.2) or 15 minutes post-IR injury (p=0.4).  

Conclusion: These preliminary results suggest that time since menopause negatively influences arterial stiffness and may prolong recovery from endothelial IR injury in women.

NIH Grant T32 GM108563