October 22, 2018

The August 1, 2018 issue of Free Radical Biology & Medicine published a report of the findings of Canadian researchers that indicate a protective effect for nicotinamide riboside against some of the damage to the body’s organs that occurs in sepsis, a potentially fatal body wide inflammatory response to infection. Nicotinamide riboside is a form of vitamin B3 and a precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺), a coenzyme involved in the regulation of oxidative stress.

In one experiment, mice received an injection of a sepsis-inducing substance and a control group received an injection of saline. The animals were pretreated with one of three doses of nicotinamide riboside or a control substance 30 minutes prior to the injections. Serum and heart and lung tissues were examined after six hours.

While lung NAD⁺ levels were lower in mice with sepsis compared to those that received saline, levels were significantly improved in association with the administration of nicotinamide riboside. Sepsis was associated with oxidative damage, increased apoptosis (programmed cell death, a major contributor to organ damage during sepsis), and other indicators of lung injury. However, pretreatment with nicotinamide riboside dose-dependently reduced these injuries. A high dose of nicotinamide riboside was also associated with a protective effect against heart muscle dysfunction in septic mice.

In another experiment, animals that received nicotinamide riboside experienced improved survival 24 hours after the onset of sepsis.

It was determined that nicotinamide riboside protects against endothelial cell apoptosis and oxidative stress through SIRT1 signaling. Increased expression of the SIRT1 protein has improved the health and life span of mice in other research.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that nicotinamide riboside provides protection against organ injury in sepsis," announce Guangliang Hong and colleagues. "Our observations are consistent with a model whereby nicotinamide riboside induces NAD⁺/SIRT1 signaling and inhibits oxidative stress, which not only prevents proinflammatory response and inflammation, but also provides protection against inflammatory injury in sepsis."

"Given nicotinamide riboside has been used as a health supplement, it may be a useful agent to prevent organ injury in sepsis," they conclude.