The Impact of Exercise on Salivary Nitric Oxide
Level of Education of Students Involved
Undergraduate
Faculty Sponsor
Lauren Sestito
College
Engineering
Discipline(s)
Biomedical Engineering
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Symposium Date
Spring 4-25-2024
Abstract
Physiological metrics like blood pressure, heart rate, and blood nitric oxide (NO) concentration are known to change in response to exercise. While blood pressure and heart rate can be easily measured in an educational lab setting, blood NO is infeasible to monitor. The objective of this work is therefore to develop a protocol to measure NO concentration in saliva, which is less invasive and more accessible in a lab setting, and to investigate how salivary NO levels change during exercise. Saliva samples were collected from subjects before, immediately after, and an hour after exercising while they performed either anaerobic exercises, aerobic exercises, or rest. Anaerobic exercises included lifting weights such as bench press, back squat, etc.; aerobic exercise was a form of cardio, such as the stair master, running, biking, etc.; and rest included breathing exercises or meditation. NO concentration in the collected samples can be measured using the Griess assay, in which nitrite, an NO precursor, reacts with a reagent to form a product with an absorbance peak at 548 nm. This absorbance is measured using a spectrophotometer and compared to a nitrite standard curve, which allows the calculation of the concentration of nitrite in each sample based on its absorbance. Salivary NO concentration will be monitored across many individuals performing different exercises to evaluate trends during and after exercise, as well as the impact of different types of exercise.
Recommended Citation
Cook, Elliot and Sestito, Lauren, "The Impact of Exercise on Salivary Nitric Oxide" (2024). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1326.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/1326
Biographical Information about Author(s)
Elliot Cook is a junior biomedical engineering student attending Valparaiso University graduating in spring of 2025. His main area of research is how salivary nitric oxide levels are affected by exercise. He has been conducting research with Dr. Sestito since the spring of 2024.