Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) is useful to helping prevent cardiovascular diseases. It is used to improve capacity, remove mutations in the DNA, protect the heart from reperfusion injury after heart attacks, and help with arrhythmias, heart failure, heart attacks, and high blood pressure.
As with all things NAD, most of the studies are “experimental models” in mice and rats.
What do we see?
- Diet-induced obesity reverses when given NR and exercising calorie restriction for 28 days — the weight decreased, visceral and subcutaneous fat reduced, TG/HDL ratio reduced, and their heart size decreased. Insulin resistance and antioxidant capacity improved.
- In a mouse model, NR treatment for 30 days led to a balanced NAD+/NADH ratio, improving mitochondrial function and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
- Prohibited cardiac fibrosis progression.
- In humans, oral NR (1 gram twice a day) was given for ischemic heart disease patients diagnosed with A fib. It is found to be cardioprotective.
- NR seems to reduce the development of aortic aneurysms and sudden death by aortic ruptures.
- NR limited dilated cardiomyopathy in mice that had a chronic pressure overload.
- Another showed NR preserved cardiac function in those with dilated cardiomyopathy and helped alleviate heart failure development by stabilizing NAD levels in the heart.
- NR helped prevent reperfusion injury after heart ischemia, which decreased heart attacks.
- It protects aortic lining cells to reduce inflammation and decrease von Willebrand factor and intercellular adhesion, thus protecting the blood vessels.
