The Effect of Dietary Nitrate in HFpEF
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Effect of Dietary Nitrate (as Beetroot Juice) on Diastolic Function and Haemodynamics in patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF)
IRAS ID
223851
Contact name
Andrew Webb
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
In about half of patients with heart failure the problem is that their heart and large arteries are stiff and their hearts don't relax properly. They quickly get out of breath when they try to exercise. This condition is known as Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF).
A single dose of beetroot juice has recently been shown to improve how much such patients can exercise. Beetroot juice is very rich in a substance called dietary nitrate, which is broken down to nitrite. How nitrite works in these patients has not been worked out. We have shown that nitrite is particularly good at relaxing larger arteries in healthy volunteers and lowering pressure near the heart, which could help the heart relax.
The goal of this research is to find out whether administration of beetroot juice has a direct effect on the ability of the heart and large arteries to relax, in addition to the improvement in exercise capacity already shown
REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1170
Date of REC Opinion
30 Aug 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion