An animal study with nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN). Unfortunately, NMN has been declared as a “novel drug” by the FDA and pulled from the OTC market. Luckily, several human studies have demonstrated that NMN is non-superior to plain niacinamide in terms of raising NAD+ levels, and it is precisely this elevation of NAD+ that the study thinks is behind the lifespan and healthspan extending effects. The dosage was on the high side, with the human-equivalent dose being 2g-3g daily. However, multiple human studies with up to 3g daily have shown that there are no side effects with such treatment, so it should not be too risky to try and replicate the study, especially in elderly individuals whose NAD+ levels are greatly decreased and they can use the extra “juice” found in higher niacinamide doses. In corroboration to the higher NAD+ levels being responsible for the lifespan/healthspan increase, NMN was found to increase metabolism and higher metabolic rate is now starting to become recognized as a booster of longevity, not an impediment.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38979132/
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.06.21.599604v1.full
“…This is the first study to explore the effect of long-term NMN treatment on frailty and lifespan in mice. NMN treatment delayed frailty and increased both median and maximum lifespan in female but not male mice. Although we did not observe a lifespan extension in male mice, NMN was well tolerated, and the male mice showed delayed frailty and improved metabolic health. Additionally, in both sexes NMN-treatment led to a sustained increase in the gut microbiome of A. colihominis, a possible contributor to the beneficial health effects of NMN. Our detailed exploration of NMN metabolism in both sexes, suggests possible sex differences in the Preiss-Handler metabolic pathway, which may contribute to the sex differences in health outcomes. The mechanism of lifespan extension in female mice with NMN remains unclear and future studies will explore the effect of NMN on other tissues, especially brain and kidney to uncover potential mechanisms of sex-specific effects. Overall, this work adds to the promising preclinical evidence for NMN as a therapeutic to increase health in aging, and highlights the importance of exploring sex differences in aging studies.”
“…“The beneficial effects of NMN on metabolism and its ability to delay frailty in mice were expected,” David Sinclair said to Lifespan.io, “but we didn’t expect to see apparently positive changes to the microbiome or sex differences in lifespan. We hope the work is useful in guiding the design of future clinical trials testing the effects of NMN and other NAD boosters in humans.””
