ArticleNitric oxide : biology and chemistry2012
Nitrate reductase activity of bacteria in saliva of term and preterm infants.
Article in Nitric oxide : biology and chemistry, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Localisation of nitrate-reducing and highly abundant microbial communities in the oral cavity.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Functional mouth rinse containing inorganic nitrate and antioxidants bolsters the enterosalivary pathway and lowers blood pressure in Wistar rats.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Influence of nitrate-containing arugula juice on nitrate-reducing oral bacteria and periodontopathogens in smokers' biofilm.Frontiers in dental medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- The Oral Microbiome as Mediator between Oral Hygiene and Its Impact on Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Nitrite in breast milk: roles in neonatal pathophysiology.Pediatric research · 2021Review
- Potential role for age as a modulator of oral nitrate reductase activity.Nitric oxide : biology and chemistry · 2021Article
- Bronchopulmonary dysplasia is associated with reduced oral nitrate reductase activity in extremely preterm infants.Redox biology · 2021Article
- Nitrite-producing oral microbiome in adults and children.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- The role of gasotransmitters in neonatal physiology.Nitric oxide : biology and chemistry · 2020Review
- Oral microbial biofilms: an update.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2019Review
- Measuring nitrate reductase activity from human and rodent tongues.Nitric oxide : biology and chemistry · 2017Article
- Oral microbiome and history of smoking and colorectal cancer.Journal of epidemiological research · 2016Article
- Changes in plasma and urinary nitrite after birth in premature infants at risk for necrotizing enterocolitis.Pediatric research · 2016Article
- Dietary intake and bio-activation of nitrite and nitrate in newborn infants.Pediatric research · 2015Review
- Nitrite and nitrate concentrations and metabolism in breast milk, infant formula, and parenteral nutrition.JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition · 2014Article
- Evidence-based feeding strategies before and after the development of necrotizing enterocolitis.Expert review of clinical immunology · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The salivary glands of adults concentrate nitrate from plasma into saliva where it is converted to nitrite by bacterial nitrate reductases. Nitrite can play a beneficial role in adult gastrointestinal and cardiovascular physiology. When nitrite is swallowed, some of it is converted to nitric oxide (NO) in the stomach and may then exert protective effects in the gastrointestinal tract and throughout the body. It has yet to be determined either when newborn infants acquire oral nitrate reducing bacteria or what the effects of antimicrobial therapy or premature birth may be on the bacterial processing of nitrate to nitrite. We measured nitrate and nitrite levels in the saliva of adults and both preterm and term human infants in the early weeks of life. We also measured oral bacterial reductase activity in the saliva of both infants and adults, and characterized the species of nitrate reducing bacteria present. Oral bacterial conversion of nitrate to nitrite in infants was either undetectable or markedly lower than the conversion rates of adults. No measurable reductase activity was found in infants within the first two weeks of life, despite the presence of oral nitrate reducing bacteria such as Actinomyces odontolyticus, Veillonella atypica, and Rothia mucilaginosa. We conclude that relatively little nitrite reaches the infant gastrointestinal tract due to the lack of oral bacterial nitrate reductase activity. Given the importance of the nitrate-nitrite-NO axis in adults, the lack of oral nitrate-reducing bacteria in infants may be relevant to the vulnerability of newborns to hypoxic stress and gastrointestinal tract pathologies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.