Natural Dietary Supplement Found to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease Successfully

Christopher Martens, assistant professor of kinesiology and applied physiology and director of the Delaware Center for Cognitive Research on Aging, is working with blood samples as part of his groundbreaking Alzheimer’s research. (CREDIT: University of Delaware)

For the first time, a researcher from the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences, in collaboration with a group from the National Institute on Aging, a division of the National Institutes of Health, has determined that a natural dietary supplement, nicotinamide riboside (NR), can enter the brain.

The discovery was made by Christopher Martens, assistant professor of kinesiology and applied physiology and director of the Delaware Center for Cognitive Research on Aging, and Dr. Dimitrios Kapoyannis, senior researcher at the National Institute on Aging. This finding is important because it supports the idea that NR, once it reaches the brain, can alter the metabolism of relevant biological pathways involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Their work, supported by an NIH grant and in part by the NIH National Institute on Aging’s internal research program, was recently published in the journal Aging Cell.

When consumed, NR is readily converted to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), which is critical for cell repair and repair of damaged DNA.

“NAD+ is gradually lost as we get older or we develop chronic diseases. Loss of NAD+ has been linked to obesity and other negative lifestyle habits such as smoking,” Martens said. “Because more NAD+ is needed to counteract these negative effects, he is more likely to be depleted in the face of negative lifestyle habits.”

Similar stories

Martens has been studying this compound since he was a research assistant at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In the original study, he found that blood levels of NAD+ could be elevated if people take NR, but it was not clear if it could reach other tissues in the body.

“We had some early indications of effectiveness, including lower blood pressure in people who initially had high blood pressure,” he said. “But until now, it was unknown if NR reached target organs, such as the brain, to have a real therapeutic effect.”

Measuring NAD+ levels in the human brain is challenging. New methods are emerging that include MRI, but they provide only an indirect measurement, are expensive and difficult to perform. Instead, Martens and colleagues measured NAD+ directly in tiny particles called extracellular vesicles that originate from neurons and enter the bloodstream. These extracellular vesicles could serve as advanced blood-based biomarkers for brain diseases and serve as “liquid biopsies” of neurons, giving researchers a rare glimpse into what’s inside them.

Christopher Martens, director of the Delaware Center for Cognitive Research on Aging, is leading a study into whether nicotinamide riboside (NR) improves memory and cerebral blood flow in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. (CREDIT: University of Delaware)

“Each vesicle has a unique molecular signature on its surface, including proteins that give you insight into its origin,” Martens said. “In our case, we chose vesicles that carry markers specific to neurons, and therefore we are confident that the NAD+ we measured in them reflects what is happening in neurons and, accordingly, in the brain.”

Using samples from their first initial clinical trial, the researchers determined, first, that NAD+ levels in these vesicles increased after six weeks.

Concentrations of NAD+ and NADH in NEV and change-change correlations with insulin signaling proteins. (a) NAD+ concentration after 6 weeks of oral nicotinamide riboside (NR) was significantly higher in NEV compared to placebo. (CREDIT: aging cell)

“When NAD+ levels rise in these vesicles, we see an association with some biomarkers of neurodegenerative disease,” Martens said. “Specifically, in people in whom we observed an increase in NAD+, we also observed changes in biomarkers such as beta-amyloid and tau, both of which are associated with Alzheimer’s disease,” Martens said.

Martens and Kapogiannis also found a correlation between these neurodegenerative biomarkers and NAD+ changes.

“If NAD+ levels were highly elevated, there were usually more significant changes in some biomarkers of the disease,” Martens said. “This tells us that NAD+ not only enters the brain, but probably also has some effect on its metabolism and many interconnected pathways.”

Some of these blood-based biomarkers could be used in the future to determine whether NAD+ depletion is the cause of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. It is even possible that these types of tests will become more accessible to the public for more routine testing.

NEV biomarkers in response to oral nicotinamide riboside supplementation. (a) Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers. (b) Canonical insulin/Akt signaling mediators. (CREDIT: aging cell)

Martens is leading a 12-week study of HP in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. The study is supported by the Delaware Center for Cognitive Research on Aging and the National Institute on Aging and is actively seeking new participants.

Through the study, Martens aims to determine whether increased NR intake has an even greater impact on people with cognitive impairment.

“They come in with cognitive deficits, and as a result, they are more likely to have some of these biomarkers accumulate in their brains, so there is a chance we will see more declines in these biomarkers because they have more of them. in their cells,” said Martens.

Almost all Alzheimer’s drugs on the market provide only modest relief of symptoms, but do not stop the progression of the underlying disease.

“In our ongoing study, we are measuring markers of cognitive function and other parameters related to functional independence and quality of life, but we also hope to gain some insight into the underlying process of the disease,” Martens said. “We hope people who take NR could keep the feature.”

Having proven its effectiveness, Martens and Kapoyannis will test whether increased use of NR improves cognition and, ultimately, whether it can be used to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

“We were among the first to do chronic dosing research in humans, and as a result, we have been at the forefront of this field for several years,” Martens said. “Now we’re at a turning point where we can start to see if NAD+ is increasing in other tissues as well, and that’s probably where the more important signal will be in terms of resolution of the disease.”

For more science news, visit our New Discoveries section at The bright side of the news.

Note. Materials provided by the University of Delaware. Content can be edited for style and length.

Do you like such pleasant stories? Get Brighter Side of News Newsletter.