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Nicotinamide riboside effects on aging similar to caloric restriction

colorado.edu

21–30 of 86 posts

Re: Nicotinamide riboside effects on aging similar to caloric restriction

#21
post #8
post #4

"We are not able to make any definitive claims that this compound is safe..." Is this quote taken out of context? Because I thought the first step of any sort of human trial of a drug is to determine its safety. Intuitively I can't see how NR would be any different safety-wise than niacin (vitamin b3), but more clarification would be nice. Anyone who has read the paper willing to chime in?

It's fundamentally the responsibility of the FDA to regulate "definitive claims that a compound is safe", whereas the standard for approval for use in a clinical trial is a bit different.

And this is a general issue with prophylactic or anti-aging style 'drugs'. Demonstrating a compound is safe enough to not cause undue harm while helping to rid the body of an accute ailment is a very different kind of 'safe' than something one might be expected to take every day for years.

Re: Nicotinamide riboside effects on aging similar to caloric restriction

#22
post #12

OK, the headline and press release basically have nothing to do with the underlying paper. The paper itself is a small sample size (24) trial that looks at tolerance. There are no statistically significant physiological effects of dosing with NR in the paper. You see a small increase in the levels of various metabolites that you would expect to see increase after dosing. They only look at cardiovascular effects, and…

This was a Phase 1 study, which means that it was designed exclusively to test safety and tolerability of the agent. This explains both the small sample size and the crossover design. I wouldn't expect there to be even tentative assessment of effect until they run a larger Phase 2 trial. As for the press office, all it would know (or care) is that this was published in a decent journal.

Re: Nicotinamide riboside effects on aging similar to caloric restriction

#23
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> consume 50%+ more than their healthier eastern counterparts That's not true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_food_ener...

I'm sorry, 50% is higher than actual. But still, is 3750 for US vs 2550 for Indonesia (about the same population), or 2800 for Japan, or 2990 for China any indication of a significant caloric intake difference? Further, the type and quality of the food is likely much lower for the US group consider just the relative carbonated, sugared beverage.

How much of that relates to the average body size? I imagine smaller people eat less.

Re: Nicotinamide riboside effects on aging similar to caloric restriction

#24
post #4

"We are not able to make any definitive claims that this compound is safe..." Is this quote taken out of context? Because I thought the first step of any sort of human trial of a drug is to determine its safety. Intuitively I can't see how NR would be any different safety-wise than niacin (vitamin b3), but more clarification would be nice. Anyone who has read the paper willing to chime in?

Tangentially related to the safety of niacin, for most people niacin/B3 is relatively inert and used by the body. In fact, if you don't get enough of it, you fall in danger of having pellagra [1].

If I eat it, I'm guaranteed to get an ocular (ophthalmic) migraine.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellagra

Re: Nicotinamide riboside effects on aging similar to caloric restriction

#26
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, 50% is higher than actual. But still, is 3750 for US vs 2550 for Indonesia (about the same population), or 2800 for Japan, or 2990 for China any indication of a significant caloric intake difference? Further, the type and quality of the food is likely much lower for the US group consider just the relative carbonated, sugared beverage.

How much of that relates to the average body size? I imagine smaller people eat less.

I hypothesise a feedback loop by which people that eat more grow in size. I have conducted some experiments on myself which are consistent with this theory.

Re: Nicotinamide riboside effects on aging similar to caloric restriction

#28
post #2

As a min/max gamer, I have to ask: do these stack? (nicotinamide riboside AND caloric restriction) But I do disagree with the article that caloric restriction is impractical or dangerous - at least for "rich" western societies that already consume 50%+ more than their healthier eastern counterparts.

> consume 50%+ more than their healthier eastern counterparts That's not true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_food_ener...

[deleted]

Re: Nicotinamide riboside effects on aging similar to caloric restriction

#29
post #12

OK, the headline and press release basically have nothing to do with the underlying paper. The paper itself is a small sample size (24) trial that looks at tolerance. There are no statistically significant physiological effects of dosing with NR in the paper. You see a small increase in the levels of various metabolites that you would expect to see increase after dosing. They only look at cardiovascular effects, and…

This was a Phase 1 study, which means that it was designed exclusively to test safety and tolerability of the agent. This explains both the small sample size and the crossover design. I wouldn't expect there to be even tentative assessment of effect until they run a larger Phase 2 trial. As for the press office, all it would know (or care) is that this was published in a decent journal.

If that's what the press office knows, "A pill that staves off aging? It's on the horizon" is a ridiculously overblown title.

Re: Nicotinamide riboside effects on aging similar to caloric restriction

#30
post #20

Does anyone know where to get it in bulk form? The commercial stuff I've seen seems way overpriced. Also, I'm happy for the disclosure but be wary of potential bias... > The study was partially funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Federation for Aging Research. ChromaDex, the maker of NIAGEN provided supplements and some financial support.

As far as I know it's fairly hard to synthesize, and isn't produced in large quantities yet.
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