Supplementing NMN can enhance skeletal muscle mass and reduce fat content

Japanese clinical trial: Supplementing NMN can enhance skeletal muscle mass and reduce fat content

NAD+(nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) exists in every living cell and is an important coenzyme responsible for cellular energy metabolism and DNA repair;

And NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide) is a precursor of NAD+, which can be converted into NAD+in organisms.

Many previous animal studies have shown that increasing the NAD+level by supplementing β-Nicotinamide Mononucleotide can inhibit the aging process and improve the symptoms of aging related diseases, such as diabetes, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.

Last year, researchers from Toyama University School of Medicine in Japan conducted a 12 week human clinical trial and found that oral NMN can enhance skeletal muscle mass and reduce body fat percentage.

The research results were published in the journal Nutrition and Metabolism in April 2022.

Figure 1: Experimental grouping (placebo group on the left and NMN group on the right)

A total of 30 healthy subjects aged 22-64 recruited for this clinical trial. They evenly divided into a 15 person β-Nicotinamide Mononucleotide group and a placebo group under double-blind conditions, with 11 females and 4 males in each group.

In a 12 week experiment, the β-Nicotinamide Mononucleotide group took 2 tablets containing 125mg NMN per day (a total of 250mg/day), while the placebo group took 2 tablets of placebo.

Two groups of subjects underwent physical examinations every 4 weeks,

and an additional examination conducted 4 weeks after the end of the experiment (16th week) to evaluate the clinical response after discontinuing NMN.

The results showed that supplementing NMN can significantly increase the level of NAD+in the blood,

and it is safe and reliable; After discontinuing NMN, NAD+levels returned to their pre trial state within 4 weeks.

Chart 2: NMN administration increases NAD+levels in the blood

In addition, researchers conducted bioelectrical impedance analysis on the subjects, which is similar to a common body fat scale.

It found that the subjects who supplemented with NMN had an increase in skeletal muscle mass and a decrease in body fat percentage.

Figure 3 Changes in Skeletal Muscle Mass (Left) and Body Fat Rate (Right) after 12 weeks of Oral NMN Administration

Overall, this clinical trial has confirmed that oral NMN can safely and effectively increase NAD+levels,

increase the skeletal muscle mass of subjects, and reduce body fat percentage.

However, the sample size used in this experiment is relatively small,

and it hoped that there will larger sample studies in the future to further verify the conclusions of this experiment.

Reference:

1. Okabe, K., Yaku, K., Uchida, Y., Fukamizu, Y., Sato, T., Sakurai, T., Tobe, K., & Nakagawa, T. (2022). Oral Administration of Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Is Safe and Efficiently Increases Blood Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Levels in Healthy Subjects. Frontiers in nutrition, 9, 868640.