Dietary Nitrate Is a Modifier of Vascular Gene Expression in Old Male Mice

Aging leads to a number of disadvantageous changes in the cardiovascular system. Deterioration of vascular homoeostasis with increase in oxidative stress, chronic low-grade inflammation, and impaired nitric oxide bioavailability results in endothelial dysfunction, increased vascular stiffness, and compromised arterial-ventricular interactions. A chronic dietary supplementation with the micronutrient nitrate has been demonstrated to improve vascular function. Healthy dietary patterns may regulate gene expression profiles. However, the mechanisms are incompletely understood. The changes that occur at the gene expression level and transcriptional profile following a nutritional modification with nitrate have not been elucidated. To determine the changes of the vascular transcriptome, we conducted gene expression microarray experiments on aortas of old mice, which were treated with dietary nitrate. Our results highlight differentially expressed genes overrepresented in gene ontology categories. Molecular interaction and reaction pathways involved in the calcium-signaling pathway and the detoxification system were identified. Our results provide novel insight to an altered gene-expression profile in old mice following nitrate supplementation. This supports the general notion of nutritional approaches to modulate age-related changes of vascular functions and its detrimental consequences.