Initial results of its second human clinical study of NIAGEN nicotinamide riboside chloride (NR) from ChromaDex Corp. have confirmed NR significantly and sustainably raises the co-enzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) in 140 healthy human volunteers over eight weeks.

In this study, participants in the active group received 100, 300, or 1000 mg per day. Results from the randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel-arm trial demonstrated that NR produced statistically significant increases in blood NAD+ compared to placebo that were related to the dose of NR consumed, demonstrating a dose response. Levels remained elevated throughout the duration of the study, thereby establishing an efficacious range for daily consumption. The study confirms not only efficacy in raising NAD+, but also definitively documents the safety of daily use of NR.  

Frank Jaksch Jr., founder and CEO of ChromaDex, commented, “This study is a pivotal milestone in the clinical science of NIAGEN and is key to better understanding its role in human health. For the first time, we have established an effective dose range for long term use in humans. This paves the way for important clinical work in the modulation of aging, as well as in other health-related categories.”

Maintenance of sufficient levels of NAD+ is key to cellular energy metabolism and mitochondrial function, according to ChromaDex. Cellular energy not only fuels our most basic bodily functions, it is also necessary to defend against oxidative stress in the body, repair DNA damage, and create the building blocks for DNA and RNA. In humans and animals, NAD+ levels decrease in normal aging. This observation has led to dozens of published preclinical studies demonstrating the efficacy of NIAGEN in raising NAD+, as well as some of the potential mechanisms by which NIAGEN can help reduce the metabolic stresses of normal aging.

Study publication in peer review literature will be critically important for supporting future University and NIH-Sponsored clinical efficacy trials. The full results of the study will be submitted for publication in a peer review