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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jul 15.
Published in final edited form as: Circ Res. 2013 Jul 5;113(2):100–103. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.113.301577

Figure 1. The entero-salivary circulation of nitrogen oxides.

Figure 1

Nitrate in the diet is reduced by oral bacteria to nitrite, which is converted to nitric oxide upon entering the acidic environment of the stomach. Nitrate that enters the small intestine is absorbed into the bloodstream where it joins with circulating nitrate and nitrite derived from the oxidative metabolism of endogenous nitric oxide. This circulating pool of nitrate and nitrite is taken up by the salivary glands and secreted into the oral salivary pool. Excess nitrate is excreted by the kidney. [Reproduced with permission from MacMillan Publishers Ltd: (reference 10)].