Cardioprotective effects of nitrite during exercise

Exercise training has been shown to reduce many risk factors related to cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and insulin resistance. More importantly, exercise training has been consistently shown to confer sustainable protection against myocardial infarction in animal models and has been associated with improved survival following a heart attack in humans. It is still unclear how exercise training is able to protect the heart, but some studies have suggested that it increases a number of classical signalling molecules. For instance, exercise can increase components of the endogenous antioxidant defences (i.e. superoxide dismutase and catalase), increase the expression of heat shock proteins, activate ATP-sensitive potassium (K-ATP) channels, and increase the expression and activity of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase resulting in an increase in NO levels. This review article will provide a brief summary of the role that these signalling molecules play in mediating the cardioprotective effects of exercise. In particular, it will highlight the role that NO plays and introduce the idea that the stable NO metabolite, nitrite, may play a major role in mediating these cardioprotective effects.