Researchers publish new clinical data on NR supplement, marking the 18th clinical trial on ChromaDex’s Niagen ingredient.

ChromaDex has announced results of the 18th clinical trial on its flagship Niagen (patented nicotinamide riboside, or “NR”) supplement ingredient with promising, peer-reviewed findings reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Longevity.Technology: Using a key ingredient called nicotinamide riboside (NR), Niagen boosts levels of the vital molecule NAD+ to promote cellular defence, resilience and repair; since its development, ChromaDex has been focused on demonstrating that Niagen delivers real healthy aging benefits, and, above all, that it is safe to use. 

This study was conducted as part of the ChromaDex External Research Program (CERP) and adds to a growing body of clinical evidence supporting the potential anti-inflammatory effects of NR supplements. In fact, since 2013, CERP has accumulated more than 240 collaborative agreements, representing $85 million in total research investment. The programme has also resulted in numerous patent applications and licences and through CERP, Niagen has been a part of more than 65 publications, including 18 peer-reviewed, clinical trial publications. A pretty extensive bank of evidence!

In the study, researchers investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of ChromaDex’s proprietary NR ingredient in monocytes, a type of white blood cell that is produced in the bone marrow. The monocytes had been extracted from two groups: young, healthy subjects and patients diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues.

Results showed that increasing NAD+ levels through NR supplements reduced Type-I interferon (IFN) signalling (which plays an important role in the human immune response) in human monocytes both in vivo in a young, healthy population and ex vivo in monocytes extracted from control subjects and SLE patients [1].

“This study supplies a mechanistic foundation as to how NR blunts monocyte immunity and supports the need for future studies in patients with monocyte-driven inflammatory disease,” said study lead Michael Sack, MD, PhD, a senior investigator in the Laboratory of Mitochondrial Biology and Metabolism at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) [2].

This randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study featured 35 healthy volunteers (average age of 24 and average BMI of 24 kg/m2) that were supplemented with 1000mg NR or placebo for 7 days. Extracted white blood cells from these young, healthy subjects as well as from middle-aged lupus patients and matched controls were then exposed to an inflammation inducer to assess NR’s anti-inflammatory effects.

“The results from this pilot study showing an immunomodulatory effect of NR through decreased IFN levels are promising; however, more research is needed to understand the implications of NR supplementation for patients with autoimmune disorders like lupus,”

said Dr Andrew Shao, Senior Vice President of Global Regulatory & Scientific Affairs at ChromaDex. “We look forward to furthering this important research [2].”

“As the type I IFN pathway has been linked to the development and severity of SLE, these findings support that targeting metabolic pathways in immune cells may be beneficial in targeting immune dysregulation in lupus cells,” said author Dr Mariana Kaplan, chief of the Systemic Autoimmunity branch at the NIH’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases [2].

[1] https://www.jci.org/articles/view/139828
[2] https://investors.chromadex.com/news/news-details/2022/ChromaDex-Announces-Results-of-New-Pilot-Clinical-Trial

Photographs: ChromaDex