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Nitrate, bacteria and human health

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 2, pages 593–602 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Nitrate is generally considered a water pollutant and an undesirable fertilizer residue in the food chain. Research in the 1970s indicated that, by reducing nitrate to nitrite, commensal bacteria might be involved in the pathogenesis of gastric cancers and other malignancies, as nitrite can enhance the generation of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines. More recent studies indicate that the bacterial metabolism of nitrate to nitrite and the subsequent formation of biologically active nitrogen oxides could be beneficial. Here, we will consider the evidence that nitrate-reducing commensals have a true symbiotic role in mammals and facilitate a previously unrecognized but potentially important aspect of the nitrogen cycle.

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Figure 1: The entero-salivary circulation of nitrate in humans.
Figure 2: The biological nitrogen cycle.
Figure 3: Multiple pathways for nitrate and nitrite transport and reduction in Escherichia coli.
Figure 4: The putative effects of nitrite in the stomach.
Figure 5: The antibacterial effects of salivary nitrite in gastric juice.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Ekhaga Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, the EU 6th Framework Programme and the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation for generous support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, 171 77, Sweden

    Jon O. Lundberg

  2. Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, 171 76, Sweden

    Eddie Weitzberg

  3. School of Biochemistry, University of Birmingham, PO Box 363, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Jeff A. Cole

  4. Peninsula Medical School, St. Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK

    Nigel Benjamin

Authors
  1. Jon O. Lundberg
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  2. Eddie Weitzberg
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  3. Jeff A. Cole
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  4. Nigel Benjamin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jon O. Lundberg.

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Competing interests

Jon O. Lundberg and Eddie Weitzberg own shares in Aerocrine AB, a company that manufactures equipment to measure nitric oxide in exhaled air.

Nigel Benjamin is the named inventor on several patents concerning the use of nitrate and nitrite as a therapeutic agent.

Jeff A. Cole declares he has no competing interests.

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DATABASES

Entrez

Bacillus subtilis

Clostridium difficile

Escherichia coli

Helicobacter pylori

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium

SwissProt

Nap

NarG

NirK

NirS

Nrf

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Lundberg, J., Weitzberg, E., Cole, J. et al. Nitrate, bacteria and human health. Nat Rev Microbiol 2, 593–602 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro929

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