Studies mouth bacteria and salivary nitric oxide in children with high blood pressure

AI summary

From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.

The trial is looking for children and teenagers aged 10 to 18 with primary hypertension (high blood pressure with no other cause), and healthy peers of the same age and sex as a comparison group.

Age

10 to 18 years

Sex

Boys and girls can both join.

Disease stage

Primary hypertension, with secondary hypertension or heart failure ruled out by the doctors.

Earlier treatment

No antibiotics in the last 3 months, no mouthwash in the last 3 months, and no regular blood pressure medicine or other regular medicine for a chronic illness.

Main reasons for not taking part

• Secondary hypertension or heart failure
• Any other long-term or body-wide illness
• Gum disease, dental infection or disease of the lining of the mouth
• Antibiotics or mouthwash in the last 3 months
• Allergy to nitrate-rich foods

The registry criteria, word for word

Check if you might fit

Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.

• Are you between 10 and 18 years old?YesNo

What the trial wants to find out

Children and adolescents with primary hypertension (high blood pressure without an underlying secondary cause) are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Recent research suggests that not only the heart and blood vessels, but also the bacteria living in the mouth may play a role in blood pressure regulation. Certain oral bacteria can convert nitrate from food into nitrite and then into nitric oxide, a substance that helps blood vessels relax. If this nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway is impaired, blood pressure may rise.

The 2 groups in the trial

• Patients with primary hypertension

  This group includes adolescents aged 10-18 years who have been clinically diagnosed with primary hypertension based on repeated office blood pressure measurements according to pediatric hypertension guidelines. Participants will undergo standardized assessments including oral examination, blood pressure measurements, salivary collection, and laboratory analyses. Laboratory procedures include: oral microbiota profiling through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, quantification of nitrate-reducing bacterial activity, measurement of salivary pH, total protein concentration, and lysozyme activity. No therapeutic intervention will be administered. All procedures are observational and aim to characterize microbial and biochemical markers associated with primary hypertension.

  Treatment: No active intervention

• Healthy controls

  This group includes healthy adolescents aged 10-18 years with no history of primary or secondary hypertension, chronic systemic disease, or regular medication use affecting cardiovascular or oral microbiome physiology. Participants will undergo standard clinical assessments identical to the hypertension group, including oral examination, salivary collection, and blood pressure measurement. Laboratory procedures will include salivary microbiota analysis (16S rRNA sequencing), assessment of nitrate-reducing bacterial activity, salivary pH, total protein concentration, and lysozyme activity. This cohort serves as the normative comparison group to evaluate microbial and biochemical differences associated with primary hypertension. No intervention will be administered.

  Treatment: No active intervention