NPPB and heart failure: Consistent with LV dilatation and the restorative action of dietary nitrite in the rat NASH model (Figure 7), in a subgroup experiment, the mRNA level of BNP, a clinical marker of heart failure [15], decreased in the myocardium of HFC diet-fed SHRSP5/Dmcr rats subjected to dietary nitrite supplementation (500 mg of nitrite in drinking water for 4 weeks) (Figure S4).