“We found that it is well tolerated and appears to activate some of the
same key biological pathways that calorie restriction does.”For the
study, the researchers included 24 lean and healthy men and women ages
55 to 79 from the Boulder area.Nicotinamide Riboside Chloride
Half were given a placebo for six weeks, then took a 500 mg twice-daily
dose of NR chloride. The other half took NR for the first six weeks,
followed by placebo.The team took blood samples and other physiological
measurements at the end of each treatment period. Participants reported
no serious adverse effects.The authors found that 1,000 mg daily of NR
boosted levels of another compound called nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide (NAD+) by 60%.
NAD+ is required for activation of enzymes called sirtuins, which are
largely credited with the beneficial effects of calorie restriction.
It’s involved in a host of metabolic actions throughout the body, but it
tends to decline with age.
“The idea is that by supplementing older adults with NR, we are not only
restoring something that is lost with aging (NAD+), but we could
potentially be ramping up the activity of enzymes responsible for
helping protect our bodies from stress,” said first author Dr.
Christopher Martens, also from the University of Colorado Boulder.
The scientists also found that in 13 participants with elevated blood
pressure or stage 1 hypertension (120-139/80-89 mmHg), systolic blood
pressure was about 10 points lower after supplementation. A drop of that
magnitude could translate to a 25-% reduction in heart attack risk.
“If this magnitude of systolic blood pressure reduction with NR
supplementation is confirmed in a larger clinical trial, such an effect
could have broad biomedical implications,” they said.“Ultimately, such
caloric restriction-mimicking compounds could provide an additional
option — alongside the dietary changes and exercise currently
recommended — for people whose blood pressure is not yet high enough to
warrant medication but who are still at risk for a heart attack.”
“The study was small and ‘pilot in nature.’ We are not able to make any
definitive claims that this compound is safe or going to be effective
for specific segments of the population,” Dr. Martens said.
