Can Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Reduce Signs Of Aging?
May 10, 2021 at 4:51 p.m.
By Max [email protected]
One of the compounds I routinely swallow by capsule is nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and it is available in a number of different dosage forms. The chemistry is complicated in that it is one of the intermediates in NAD+ biosynthesis and is a bioactive nucleotide formed by the reaction between a phosphate group and a nucleoside containing ribose and nicotinamide (NAM).
In more simple terms it can be described as a nucleotide derived from ribose (a sugar) and nicotinamide (a B vitamin). NMN is a derivative of niacin and humans have enzymes that can use NMN to generate other nucleotides. Nucleotides form the basic structural unit of nucleic acids such as DNA. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is not effective when given directly to animals so researchers had to look one step further in the NAD supply chain to the compound called NMN. One study shows that when NMN is dissolved in drinking water and given to mice, it appears in the blood stream in less than three minutes and is quickly converted to NAD in multiple tissues.
Discovery
NAD was discovered in the early twentieth century as an alcoholic fermentation enhancer. ccording to David Sinclair in his book “Lifespan,” “if it hadn’t had the potential to improve the way we make booze, scientists might not have been so enamored with it. Instead they worked on it for decades, and in 1938 found that NAD was able to cure black tongue disease in dogs.” It turned out that NAD is a product of the vitamin niacin, a severe lack of which causes inflamed skin, diarrhea, dementia, skin sores and ultimately death. In the 1990s, scientists began to realize that NAD wasn’t just keeping things running, it was the central regulator of many biological processes, including aging and disease.
Human And Other Studies
In one Japanese study testing the effect of oral administration of NMN on blood levels in healthy men, NMN was found to be a feasible therapeutic strategy to mitigate age-related disorders in humans. In various animal studies, the administration of NMN has been shown to lessen age-associated physiological declines in the liver, fatty tissue, muscle, pancreas, kidneys, retina and the central nervous system.
Other studies have demonstrated that NMN restores tissue NAD+ levels and ameliorates obesity, insulin resistance, muscle dysfunction, renal failure and retinal degeneration in rat and mouse models. The article from Japan also noted that efficacy in humans remains unclear.
Aging
Much of human health hinges on how well the body manufacturers and uses energy. For reasons that are not clear, the cell’s ability to produce energy declines with age, prompting scientists to suspect that the steady loss of efficiency in the body’s energy supply chain is a key driver of the aging process.
Other Uses
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by insulin resistance and subsequent impairment of insulin secretion. The metabolism of NAD+ plays a crucial role in insulin sensitivity and secretion and is sometimes disrupted by obesity and aging.
Generally, these discoveries demonstrated that NMN could be a promising drug for obese-associated and age-induced T2D through the role it plays in the enhancement of NAD+ biosynthesis. Long-term administration of NMN can significantly reduce age-associated body weight gain in a dose-dependent manner. A study conducted a 12 month-long administration of NMN (from five to 17 months) in mice.
The results indicated that the 100- and 300-mg/kg dose of NMN was able to reduce the mice’s weight by 4 and 9%, respectively, compared to the control mice. No difference was observed in body length between NMN-treated and control mice. NMN-treated mice also maintained higher levels of food and water consumption compared to control mice, which suggested that NMN did not cause severe side effects, such as growth defect and loss of appetite. The administration of NMN could be an effective option for maintaining body weight and reversing metabolic dysfunctions caused by obesity.
Food Sources
NMN is found in various types of natural foods, such as vegetables, fruits and meat. Edamame and broccoli contain 0.47–1.88 and 0.25–1.12 mg NMN/100 g, respectively, whereas avocado, cucumber and tomato contain somewhat less.
However, raw beef only contains 0.06–0.42 mg NMN/100 g. Recent preclinical studies have demonstrated that the administration of NMN could compensate for the deficiency of NAD+, and NMN supplementation was able to effect diverse pharmacological activities in various diseases.
Final Thoughts
One of the reasons I elected take NMN is that it is the same compound mentioned by the author of Lifespan. He takes it along with others, one gram every morning. Dr. Sinclair is one of the longevity scientists of this generation. You may wish to ask your doctor about it.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. His new book “Science Snippets” is available from Amazon and other book sellers. It contains a number of previously published columns. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
One of the compounds I routinely swallow by capsule is nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and it is available in a number of different dosage forms. The chemistry is complicated in that it is one of the intermediates in NAD+ biosynthesis and is a bioactive nucleotide formed by the reaction between a phosphate group and a nucleoside containing ribose and nicotinamide (NAM).
In more simple terms it can be described as a nucleotide derived from ribose (a sugar) and nicotinamide (a B vitamin). NMN is a derivative of niacin and humans have enzymes that can use NMN to generate other nucleotides. Nucleotides form the basic structural unit of nucleic acids such as DNA. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is not effective when given directly to animals so researchers had to look one step further in the NAD supply chain to the compound called NMN. One study shows that when NMN is dissolved in drinking water and given to mice, it appears in the blood stream in less than three minutes and is quickly converted to NAD in multiple tissues.
Discovery
NAD was discovered in the early twentieth century as an alcoholic fermentation enhancer. ccording to David Sinclair in his book “Lifespan,” “if it hadn’t had the potential to improve the way we make booze, scientists might not have been so enamored with it. Instead they worked on it for decades, and in 1938 found that NAD was able to cure black tongue disease in dogs.” It turned out that NAD is a product of the vitamin niacin, a severe lack of which causes inflamed skin, diarrhea, dementia, skin sores and ultimately death. In the 1990s, scientists began to realize that NAD wasn’t just keeping things running, it was the central regulator of many biological processes, including aging and disease.
Human And Other Studies
In one Japanese study testing the effect of oral administration of NMN on blood levels in healthy men, NMN was found to be a feasible therapeutic strategy to mitigate age-related disorders in humans. In various animal studies, the administration of NMN has been shown to lessen age-associated physiological declines in the liver, fatty tissue, muscle, pancreas, kidneys, retina and the central nervous system.
Other studies have demonstrated that NMN restores tissue NAD+ levels and ameliorates obesity, insulin resistance, muscle dysfunction, renal failure and retinal degeneration in rat and mouse models. The article from Japan also noted that efficacy in humans remains unclear.
Aging
Much of human health hinges on how well the body manufacturers and uses energy. For reasons that are not clear, the cell’s ability to produce energy declines with age, prompting scientists to suspect that the steady loss of efficiency in the body’s energy supply chain is a key driver of the aging process.
Other Uses
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by insulin resistance and subsequent impairment of insulin secretion. The metabolism of NAD+ plays a crucial role in insulin sensitivity and secretion and is sometimes disrupted by obesity and aging.
Generally, these discoveries demonstrated that NMN could be a promising drug for obese-associated and age-induced T2D through the role it plays in the enhancement of NAD+ biosynthesis. Long-term administration of NMN can significantly reduce age-associated body weight gain in a dose-dependent manner. A study conducted a 12 month-long administration of NMN (from five to 17 months) in mice.
The results indicated that the 100- and 300-mg/kg dose of NMN was able to reduce the mice’s weight by 4 and 9%, respectively, compared to the control mice. No difference was observed in body length between NMN-treated and control mice. NMN-treated mice also maintained higher levels of food and water consumption compared to control mice, which suggested that NMN did not cause severe side effects, such as growth defect and loss of appetite. The administration of NMN could be an effective option for maintaining body weight and reversing metabolic dysfunctions caused by obesity.
Food Sources
NMN is found in various types of natural foods, such as vegetables, fruits and meat. Edamame and broccoli contain 0.47–1.88 and 0.25–1.12 mg NMN/100 g, respectively, whereas avocado, cucumber and tomato contain somewhat less.
However, raw beef only contains 0.06–0.42 mg NMN/100 g. Recent preclinical studies have demonstrated that the administration of NMN could compensate for the deficiency of NAD+, and NMN supplementation was able to effect diverse pharmacological activities in various diseases.
Final Thoughts
One of the reasons I elected take NMN is that it is the same compound mentioned by the author of Lifespan. He takes it along with others, one gram every morning. Dr. Sinclair is one of the longevity scientists of this generation. You may wish to ask your doctor about it.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. His new book “Science Snippets” is available from Amazon and other book sellers. It contains a number of previously published columns. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
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