Studies on In Vivo Formation of Nitroso Compounds (III)

Nitrite and Nitrate Concentrations in Human Saliva Collected from Salivary Ducts

Abstract

The concentrations of nitrite and nitrate in human saliva directly collected from salivary ducts were studied.
In the previous papers of this series, it was observed that human saliva contained nitrite and nitrate and their concentrations were affected by the amount of nitrate in ingested foods.
In the present paper, it was elucidated that high amounts of nitrite and nitrate were detected in saliva which was accumulated in mouth, but only nitrate was detected in saliva which was directly collected from the ducts of salivary glands. The similar phenomena were observed during 10hr after the ingestion of sodium nitrate.
From these results, it seemed that nitrite was not secreted in saliva, but produced newly from secreted nitrate in mouth.