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CompletedNCT03871777NO3Updated Oct 10, 2019

Dietary Nitrate Intake in Vegetarians and Omnivores

An interventional study of Placebo mouthwash and Chlorhexidine mouthwash in Blood Pressure, sponsored by University of Plymouth. Completed at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 50 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-10-10.

Sponsored by University of Plymouth · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 2 years 10 months after the study started (first participant enrolled May 2016, registered Mar 2019).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
41
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years to 50 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

Vegetarian diets are commonly associated with lower blood pressure levels. This has been related to greater consumption of inorganic nitrate, since vegetables are the main source of this anion. Dietary nitrate is reduced to nitrite by commensal bacteria in the mouth, which in turn leads to increased circulatory nitrite availability. Nitrite can form nitric oxide by several pathways promoting a reduction in the vascular tone and lower blood pressure.

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Conditions studied

  • Blood Pressure

Keywords

  • nitrate
  • vegetarian
  • nitrite
  • oral microbiome
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In context

Lead sponsor

University of Plymouth is the lead sponsor of 49 studies on the registry; 16 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 50 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Healthy vegetarians (vegans and ovo-lacto vegetarians) following this dietary pattern for at least a year.
  • Health omnivores

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Smokers
  • Individuals taking any medications or recreational drugs.
  • Individuals with pre-existing medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia or dental conditions (gingivitis).
  • Individuals using mouthwash or tongue scrapes were excluded from this study
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
Single (Participant)
Enrollment
41 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Vegetarians

    Healthy vegetarians (vegans and lacto-ovo vegetarians) 18 and 50 years formed this arm.

    Other: Placebo mouthwash · Other: Chlorhexidine mouthwash

  • Sham comparator
    Omnivores

    Healthy omnivores with similar characteristics of vegetarians (age, body mass index, gender and physical activity levels) formed this arm

    Other: Placebo mouthwash · Other: Chlorhexidine mouthwash

Interventions

  • OtherPlacebo mouthwash

    Participants received placebo mouthwash (ultrapure unflavoured water) with which they rinsed their mouth for one minute, twice a day for 7 days. Resting metabolic rate and blood pressure were measured on day eight. Additionally, blood and saliva samples were taken from all the participants. Dietary records of seven days were also collected in order to confirm the foods and portion sizes consumed, preparation methods, recipes and any brand names.

  • OtherChlorhexidine mouthwash

    After using placebo and complete all the physiological measurements, participants were given a further one-week supply of antibacterial mouthwash containing 0.2% chlorhexidine (Corsodyl, GlaxoSmithKline, UK), encouraged to rinse their mouth for one minute, twice a day for 7 more days. They returned to the laboratory in 7 days to repeat all measurements in the same order.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Dietary nitrate intake

    Macro- and micronutrient intake of seven-day food diaries were analysed using a nutritional analysis software programme (Microdiet, Downlee Systems, Chapel-en-le-Frith, UK). Nitrate content of vegetables was mainly obtained from the European Food Safety Authority and additional data for spinach and lettuce from the Food Standards Agency. Nitrate and total polyphenol figures were uploaded to the Microdiet database prior to analysis.

    Time frame: 7 days

  2. Concentration of nitrate and nitrite in plasma and saliva

    Whole blood was collected into lithium-heparin tubes (BD Vacutainer®, Becton Dickinson, Plymouth, UK) and rapidly centrifuged at 4,000 rpm and 4°C for 10 minutes. The plasma was then separated, frozen at -80°C until further analyses of nitrate and nitrite were performed. Non-stimulated saliva (3 milliliters) was also collected into a sterile falcon tube and rapidly frozen at -80°C. Then, nitrate and nitrite were measured in plasma and saliva using ozone-based chemiluminescence.

    Time frame: 7 days

  3. Change in blood pressure

    Systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure was measured following British Hypertension Guidelines. Three successive supine readings were taken using an oscillometric device (Connex ProBP 3400 Digital Blood Pressure Device, Welch Allyn UK Ltd.) with a one minute rest between readings. The second and third readings were averaged to determine mean clinic blood pressure.

    Time frame: 7 days

  4. Change in oral nitrate-reducing capacity

    Nitrate-reducing capacity of oral bacteria was analysed to compare vegetarians and omnivores and treatments (placebo mouthwash vs antibacterial mouthwash). Participants were instructed to hold 10 milliliters of water containing sodium nitrate (80 μicromols) in their mouth for 5 minutes. The mouth rinse was collected into a Falcon sterile tube and centrifuged (4,500 rpm, 4°C) for 10 minutes. The supernatant was collected and stored at -80°C before measuring absolute nitrite concentration.

    Time frame: 7 days

  5. Change in Resting Energy Expenditure

    Resting Energy Expenditure was analysed using indirect calorimetry after using the placebo mouthwash and antibacterial mouthwash

    Time frame: 7 days

  6. Change oral microbiome

    bundance of oral bacteria was analysed using 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) after using the placebo mouthwash and antibacterial mouthwash. Salivary DNA was extracted using a DNA kit (QIAamp® DNeasy Blood \& Tissue Kit). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the 16S rRNA V1-2 region was carried out using universal 16S primers 27 F (5'-AGA GTT TGA TCM TGG CTC AG-3') and 338 R (5'-GCW GCC WCC CGT AGG WGT-3'). Single band PCR products were purified and quantified with Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer (Invitrogen, CA, USA). Sequencing was performed on an Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine.

    Time frame: 7 days

  7. Change in blood biomarkers

    Blood markers were analyzed to assess differences between vegetarians and omnivores to control for diabetes and dyslipidaemia and to analyse the effect of antibacterial mouthwash. Whole blood glucose and lactate was measured using a biochemistry analyser (YSI 2300 Stat Plus, YSI Life Sciences, USA). Total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoproteins (HDL) and low density lipoproteins (LDL) were analysed with enzymatic methods using the Roche 702 spectrophotometric module of a Cobas 8000 analyser (Roche Diagnostics Ltd, UK)

    Time frame: 7 days

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Study locations

1 site
  • Laboratory of Nutrition, Exercise & Health
    Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AA, United Kingdom
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Data will be shared as requested

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from May 2016 to primary completion in Sep 2017, 15 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Mar 9, 2019
First posted
Mar 12, 2019
StartActual
May 9, 2016
Primary completionActual
Sep 4, 2017
CompletionActual
Nov 12, 2018
Last update
Oct 10, 2019
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 10, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03871777
Lead sponsor
University of Plymouth
Collaborators
University of the West of Scotland
Responsible party
Raul Bescos (Lecturer, University of Plymouth) — Principal investigator
First posted
Mar 12, 2019
Start date
May 9, 2016
Primary completion
Sep 4, 2017
Completion
Nov 12, 2018
Last update
Oct 10, 2019

Study contacts

Raul Bescos, PhD
study director · University of Plymouth

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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