Restore NAD+ Level without NR or NMN
To keep NAD+ levels high, almost everywhere I look, it is suggested that we must supply precursors (NR or NMN), so that we can induce "production" of NAD+. Both NR & NMN are not cheap.
I wonder why the other side of the equation is mostly ignored. Namely, to cure the root cause of the reduced levels of NAD+ with age.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4911708/
In this study, it is claimed that the root cause of NAD+ level reduction is the increase of CD38 with age. If this is true, inhibiting CD38 should be the target.
There are many inhibitors. One that I find interesting, is apigenin.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3609577/
Apigenin is a flavonoid that is inexpensive, safe and has numerous other benefits. You can even avoid buying the supplement if you are willing to eat plenty of parsley.
Of course, other CD38 inhibitors might also be utilized.
To me, this appears to be a better approach. We cure the problem (elevated CD38 that causes lower levels of NAD+), rather than the symptom (force feed precursors hoping that NAD+ will eventually be produced)
Any feedback will be appreciated
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Zisos Katsiapis Nicola Conlon agrees with your conclusions and started Nuchido. Check out her blog, supplement and presentation during 2019 undoing aging. I didn’t try it myself yet; but, the test results showing 3 fold nad increase without nad precursor and nearly 10 fold with nad precursors are impressive.
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Here is the link to her research https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0029/5449/4052/files/Undoing_ageing_poster_2019_-_Correct_size.pdf . The doc has the test results but is not specific with respect of what the chemicals they used in their tests. The chemicals and what they do to achieve the network effect are explained in this blog post https://nuchido.com/blogs/articles/ageing-nad-and-biological-complexity. In summary yes you can achieve good boost of nad+ even without nad precursors and it takes apigenin and other chemicals as she explains to do so. Amazingly she achieves her 10x nad+ boost utilizing the cheapest nad+ precursor out there Niacinamide.
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Staffan Olsson Couple of comments. First I’m not surprised that antioxidant study you are referring to shortened a lifespan. I think antioxidant theory of aging just doesn’t have support in the scientific research. It kind of sounded convincing in the nineties until researchers started testing it and found that antioxidants actually reduce lifespan. So no surprise that piling up bunch of antioxidants would produce even worse results. Second I really like the approach of computer simulation in uncovering action of molecules on body cells and as next step of interaction between chemicals. In that vein, I have seen some recent very interesting computer simulation research on chemical molecules and coronavirus. my thinking is that one at a time reductionist approach was just simply only one option available because we didn’t have large scale computer simulation. Now we can do more.
@Zisos Katsiapis I think Nuchido is trying to show that if you combine these other molecules with niacinamide, it doesn’t stick around to negatively affect sirt1 and instead gets converted to nad+ and then properly salvaged so you don’t have to use nmn. Also my thinking here is that it just may be better to take the other chemicals she lists to conserve nad+ and improve recycling and avoid taking any nad+ precursors at all. If nuchido is right then it may be possible to avoid age related degradation while restoring nad+ to youthful levels without any precursor. Adding precursor to the mix may push your nad+ levels above normal and hence increase cancer risk. To keep check and balances your body maintains homeostasis. Hence, extra precursor I suspect will encounter your body resistance and may have negative side effects. It is of course all speculations as there are 0 nmn studies in humans. So instead, I much more like increasing nad+ levels through more systemic approaches like cr and/or intermittent fasting.
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Inhibiting CD38, sounds like a logical approach to correct for low NADH. However, after a little searching, I found this recent article, that describes the MANY roles CD38 has with the immune system. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7017097/ Some inhibition MAY get the desired effect, but overdosing could lead to reduced immunity.