Histological characteristics following a long-term nitrate-rich diet in miniature pigs with parotid atrophy

  • Dengsheng Xia
  • , Xingmin Qu
  • , Simon D. Tran
  • , Laura L. Schmidt
  • , Lizheng Qin
  • , Chunmei Zhang
  • , Xiuyu Cui
  • , Dajun Deng
  • , Songlin Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the histological characteristics following a 2-year nitrate-rich diet in miniature pigs with parotid atrophy. Using averages collected data from three time points at 6, 12, and 24 months following the induction of parotid gland atrophy, salivary nitrate levels of the nitrate-diet parotid-atrophied group (17.3±3.9 ng/μl) were close to those of the control group (19.6±5.1 ng/μl). Compared to the control group, the nitrate-diet group had significantly higher nitrate levels in blood (P < 0.05) and urine (P < 0.001). Histological and electron microscopy analyses showed no abnormalities in the organs of experimental or control animals. No significant differences on apoptosis rate were found in liver and kidney tissues between the standard- and nitrate-diet groups. Therefore, dietary nitrate supplementation could restore salivary nitrate levels. High-dose nitrate loading for 2 years had no observed systemic toxicity in miniature pigs with parotid atrophy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6225-6234
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology
Volume8
Issue number6
StatePublished - 2015

Keywords

  • Histology
  • Nitrate supplementation
  • Oral cavity
  • Parotid atrophy
  • Safety

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