Women with high blood pressure have much lower levels of nitrite in their saliva than women with normal blood pressure.

Scientific Claim

Hypertensive women have significantly lower salivary nitrite concentrations compared to normotensive women, with a p-value of 0.006.

Original Statement

“Women with hypertension had significantly lower salivary nitrite concentrations (p=0.006) and reduced abundance of the nitrate-reducing taxa Veillonella (p=0.007) compared with normotensive women.”

From study:Altered Oral Nitrate Reduction and Bacterial Profiles in Hypertensive Women Predict Blood Pressure Lowering Following Acute Dietary Nitrate Supplementation

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

association

Can only show association/correlation

Assessment Explanation

The study is observational and shows an association between hypertension and lower salivary nitrite levels. The language 'had significantly lower' appropriately describes the observed association without implying causation.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Altered Oral Nitrate Reduction and Bacterial Profiles in Hypertensive Women Predict Blood Pressure Lowering Following Acute Dietary Nitrate Supplementation

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2023 Nov

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Altered Oral Nitrate Reduction and Bacterial Profiles in Hypertensive Women Predict Blood Pressure Lowering Following Acute Dietary Nitrate Supplementation

Score: 34

DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.123.21263

Similar Assertions

Women with high blood pressure tend to have slightly lower mouth bacteria activity for converting nitrate to nitrite compared to women with normal blood pressure, though this difference isn't quite statistically significant.

73%

In healthy people, the amount of nitrite in the blood was related to the amount in saliva, which suggests that the blood nitrite comes from the saliva through a specific pathway.

71%