Tier 4 — mechanistic

Nicotinamide riboside improves muscle mitochondrial biogenesis, satellite cell differentiation, and gut microbiota in a twin study

Lapatto HAK, Kuusela M, Heikkinen A, Muniandy M, van der Kolk BW, Gopalakrishnan S, Pöllänen N, Sandvik M, Schmidt MS, Heinonen S, Saari S, Kuula J, Hakkarainen A, Tampio J, Saarinen T, Taskinen MR, Lundbom N, Groop PH, Tiirola M, Katajisto P, Lehtonen M, Brenner C, Kaprio J, Pekkala S, Ollikainen M, Pietiläinen KH, Pirinen E, Pirinen E
Science advances 2023 9; 2; eadd5163

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 36638183
PubMed Central
PMC9839336
DOI
10.1126/sciadv.add5163
Funding
Academy of Finland, Finnish research foundations, Novo Nordisk Foundation and institutional support; detailed grants are listed in the publication.
Competing interests
A complete competing-interest declaration is not specified in the accessible publication information.

Study snapshot

DesignOpen-label human intervention study
ModelHuman participants
Sample20 BMI-discordant monozygotic twin pairs recruited; analysis sets vary
InterventionNR escalated from 250 to 1000 mg/day
Duration5 months
EndpointsNAD+ metabolism; muscle mitochondrial measures; metabolic health

What the study showed, in plain terms

NR supplementation changed NAD+ metabolism, muscle mitochondrial measures, stem-cell differentiation and selected microbial and methylation measures.

Key findings

NR supplementation changed NAD+ metabolism, muscle mitochondrial measures, stem-cell differentiation and selected microbial and methylation measures.

What this study can and cannot tell us

No placebo arm for the principal NR comparison; adiposity and metabolic health did not improve. Companion epigenetic analyses are not independent intervention trials.

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Editorial review

Reviewed by the Biohack Blueprint research team

Last verified

Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction Dr. Amr Yasser, PhDCardiometabolic, Musculoskeletal, Gut & Bioavailability Dr. Abdulla Mostafa, PhDCellular Senescence, Neurological, Mitochondrial & Brain-Ageing Biology