Arguing for Nicotinamide Riboside to Improve Hematopoietic Stem Cell Function

Researchers here argue for enhanced levels of NAD+ to boost stem cell function through improved mitochondrial function. This is an area of metabolism that has gained increasing attention of late, a second pass at the whole topic of sirtuins, mitochondrial function, and metabolism in aging. I'd say the jury is still out on whether it is worth pursing aggressively in human medicine. One or two early trials seem promising, in the sense of obtaining benefits that look similar to those derived from exercise, but the magnitude and reliability of those benefits is the important question. The bone marrow stem cell population responsible for generating blood and immune cells, hematopoietic stem cells, declines in activity with age, as is the case for other stem cell populations. Some of this is due to intrinsic damage, but the evidence to date suggests that, up until very late life, the majority of the loss of activity can be overridden - it is an evolved response to rising levels of damage, possibly arising because it reduces cancer risk, rather than the direct consequence of damage. Thus researchers are in search of ways to safely override this response, via a variety of means. Mitochondria are generally characterized as the powerhouse of the cell, since this is the site where energy is produced from ATP. In addition to energy production, mitochondria play a key role in several important cellular processes, including growth, signaling, differentiation, reactive oxyge...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs