2 replies to this topic

[Michael]

This is only a meeting abstract, but on their face, these certainly sound like more dramatic findings than previoius reports, particularly the magnitude of the exercise result.

 

 

Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport

Volume 20, Supplement 2, November 2017, Pages S165-S166

Extension of physical endurance and protection against physical, chemical and radiological trauma by NAD⁺ precursors

Abhirup Das, David Sinclair. Michael Bonkowski. Ian Johnston, Lindsay Wu

 

https://doi.org/10.1...ams.2017.09.564Get rights and content

   

Purpose: A therapy to extend physical performance and improve survival would be a major advantage to the modern soldier. ... We aimed to test whether restoring NAD⁺ could improve performance and survivability in situations relevant to the [Australian Defense Forces].

 

Methods: C57BL6 mice were used  ... Muscle injury was induced by surgical hindlimb arterial occlusion.  ...

 

Results: Orally delivered NMN [400 mg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹, addition to drinking water] extended physical endurance by over 60% under both trained and untrained conditions. This was likely due to a newly discovered pathway that improved capillary density in muscle, which also enhanced capillary regrowth and muscle recovery following hindlimb arterial occlusion. [MR: It's not clear to me whether they're saying the exercise imporvoment happened in otherwise-unharmed animals, or only after arterial occlusion].

 

To mimic major trauma, animals were bled out, and re-infused with saline alone, or saline containing NMN [under anaesthetised conditions].. Infusion with NMN improved survival from 20% to over 60% at 24 h after bleed out.

 

NAD⁺ plays a major role in DNA repair, which is rate limiting for survival during exposure to DNA damaging chemicals or radiation, a challenge faced by modern soldiers through the threats of unconventional chemical and radiological weapons. To test whether elevating NAD⁺ could provide protection against these threats, we administered NMN during exposure to the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, [10 mg kg⁻¹ i.p.] and observed protection against loss of spatial memory, nerve pain, and inactivity. NMN treatment following high level radiation exposure [6 Gy] restored a loss in haematocrit, pointing towards improved survival.  ...

 

Conclusion: Together, we show that a single NAD⁺ precursor can address multiple challenges faced by modern soldiers, including enhanced physical performance, improved survival during major trauma, and protection against radiological and chemical weapons. If successfully developed, this research has wide implications for maintaining an edge in performance, and improved survival, for the modern soldier.

 

The improved capillary density and  enhanced capillary regrowth might indicate a possible cancer risk, via angiogenesis.

[warner]

From past research, I think we can expect to see such reports of NAD precursors helping under traumatic conditions, but the big question remains of what happens with long-term supplementation in an aging population (and a more difficult thing to study).  iow, a soldier (or victim of trauma) taking a lot of NMN or NR under specific conditions might be net positive, but sustained elevated levels of NMN et al. in aging humans might have net negative consequences (such as cancer risk, as MR noted).

[hav]

Not clear how their methods and results support their specific conclusion. Probably need more info on how they distinguished between improved blood loss tolerance effects and muscle repair effects... not that the distinction would matter much to a soldier wounded in the battlefield.

 

Howard