Nicotinamide Riboside Reverses Age-Related Decline in Intestinal Stem Cell Populations

Nicotinamide riboside supplementation is one of the ways to increase levels of NAD+ in mitochondria, thus improving mitochondrial function. This probably does little for young people, particularly young and physically fit people, but in old age NAD+ levels decline along with mitochondrial function. Mitochondria are the power plants of the cell, and with aging they suffer a general malaise that is detrimental to tissue function, especially in energy-hungry tissues such as muscles and the brain. The causes are still poorly understood, though a faltering of the quality control mechanism of mitophagy due to loss of mitochondrial fission appears to be involved. Increased NAD+ appears to override this decline to some degree, albeit without addressing any of the underlying and still problematic root causes. In early human trials, NAD+ upregulation has been shown to modestly improve vascular function in older individuals, most likely by reversing some of the dysfunction in smooth muscle cell behavior. In mice a broader range of benefits has been demonstrated, though it remains to be seen how many of those also appear in humans to a significant degree. The work here is more along the same lines, in which researchers show that nicotinamide riboside supplementation can restore intestinal stem cell function in older mice. This should improve tissue function, but again it is worth bearing in mind that this is only overriding a reaction to the underlying damage of aging - it doesn't...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs