Reviewing Efforts to Develop NAD+ Therapies to Reverse Age-Related Loss of Mitochondrial Function

Increasing levels of NAD+ in mitochondria, is a class of therapy that probably produces most of its benefits in animal models and human trials by restoring mitophagy. This may well be true of mitochondrially targeted antioxidants as well. Mitophagy removes damaged mitochondria, but is hampered by age-related changes in mitochondrial dynamics, among other reasons. Mitochondria are responsible for packaging chemical energy store molecules to power cellular operations. Mitochondrial function is critical to tissue function throughout the body, but is of particular note in the energy-hungry tissues of muscle and brain. NAD+ declines with aging for causes that are not well understood, not well linked to the underlying molecular damage that causes aging. Methods of increasing NAD+ are operating on proximate causes at best. They can reverse some degree of the decline, as demonstrated in human trials focused on the function of smooth muscle in major blood vessels. Not all of these trials produced benefits, however, and in those that did, NAD+ upregulation so far doesn't achieve more than "some degree" of improvement. Thus assessment of the field of prospective NAD+ interventions is still very much an ongoing project. Over the last decade, the importance of NAD+ in healthy ageing and longevity has been recognised, detailed molecular mechanisms unveiled, and many clinical trials explored. Studies from laboratory animals, such as in nematodes and mice, and in human primar...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs