doi:10.1155/2012/472396 Research Article Blood Pressure-Lowering Mechanisms of the DASH Dietary Pattern

Copyright © 2012 Pao-Hwa Lin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Potential blood pressure- (BP-) lowering mechanisms of the DASH dietary pattern were measured in 20 unmedicated hypertensive adults in a controlled feeding study. At screening, participants averaged 44.3 ± 7.8 years, BMI 33.9 ± 6.6Kg/m2, and BP 144.2 ± 9.38/88.5 ± 6.03mmHg. All consumed a control diet for one week, then were randomized to control or DASH for another two weeks (week one and two).With DASH, but not controls, SBP fell by 10.65±12.89 (P = 0.023) and 9.60±11.23 (P = 0.039)mmHg and DBP by 5.95 ± 8.01 (P = 0.069) and 8.60 ± 9.13mmHg (P = 0.011) at the end of week one and two, respectively. Univariate regressions showed that changes in urinary sodium/potassium ratio (β = 1.99) and plasma renin activity (β = −15.78) and percent change in plasma nitrite after hyperemia were associated with SBP changes at week one (all P < 0.05). Plasma nitrite following hyperemia showed a treatment effect (P = 0.014) and increased at week two (P = 0.001). Pulse wave velocity decreased over time with DASH (trend P = 0.019), and reached significance at week two (P = 0.026). This response may be mediate