A similar dose of nitrate was previously found to have anti-obesity and insulin-sensitizing effects in the eNOS−/− mouse, which exhibits a metabolic syndrome-like phenotype [21], and it would be interesting to see whether nitrate exerts similarly-protective effects in obese and insulin-resistant rodents where the primary defect is not one of NO-production, e.g. diet-induced obesity or leptin-deficiency/resistance. The gene discussed is INS; the disease is obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.