Nicotinamide Riboside Shown to Improve Mitochondrial Energy Production, Memory in Alzheimer's Disease

Press Release

ChromaDex Corp. (NASDAQ:CDXC), a science-based, fully integrated nutraceutical company devoted to extending human healthspan, announced today that in research published in the journal Nature, Dr. Johan Auwerx showed that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) mice treated with nicotinamide riboside (NR) had lower levels of amyloid deposits, improved mitochondrial energy production and improved memory.

Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating age-related neurodegenerative condition with no known cure. Identifying early mechanisms of the disease and approaches to prevent AD are among the most important priorities of global biomedical research.

Dr. Auwerx and colleagues at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, revealed that people with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease have characteristic changes in their brain mitochondria. Dr. Auwerx and colleagues demonstrated that in development of the disease, mitochondrial energy output is reduced and the mitochondrial stress response, which normally recycles damaged mitochondrial proteins, is inactivated. Reasoning that mitochondrial function might be restored by molecules such as NAD+ that are limiting to energy production, Dr. Auwerx tested NR, a recently discovered vitamin and effective NAD+ booster. Dr. Auwerx showed that AD mice treated with NR had lower degrees of amyloid deposits, improved mitochondrial energy production and improved memory.

Remarking on Dr. Auwerx’s discovery, Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, the Vice-Chair of Neurology and Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of ChromaDex commented, “We’ve long been fascinated by mitochondrial changes in AD pathology and have been intrigued with the possibility of a bioenergetic deficit in AD. Work published today clearly justifies testing NR in the context of mild cognitive impairment.”

Dr. Charles Brenner, the Roy J. Carver Chair and Head of Biochemistry at the University of Iowa and the Chief Scientific Advisor of ChromaDex continued “given the preclinical data and the human safety data that are coming out, we’re thrilled to have additional well vetted applications where we can test NR to improve the human condition. By combining novel imaging modalities with NAD metabolomics, we expect to see multiple opportunities to test NR as a neuroprotective agent in people in coming years.”

NR is a vitamin discovered by Dr. Brenner and developed by ChromaDex.

About ChromaDex:

ChromaDex leverages its complementary business units to discover, acquire, develop and commercialize patented and proprietary health and wellness consumer products and ingredient technologies that promote healthy longevity. In addition to our consumer product and ingredient technologies units, we also have business units focused on natural product fine chemicals (known as "phytochemicals"), and product regulatory and safety consulting. As a result of our relationships with leading universities and research institutions, we are able to discover and license early stage, IP-backed ingredient technologies. We then utilize our in-house chemistry, regulatory and safety consulting business units to develop commercially viable ingredients. Our consumer product and ingredient portfolio are backed with clinical and scientific research, as well as extensive IP protection. Our portfolio of patented ingredient technologies includes NIAGEN® nicotinamide riboside; pTeroPure® pterostilbene; PURENERGY®, a caffeine-pTeroPure^® co-crystal; IMMULINA™, a spirulina extract; AnthOrigin®, anthocyanins derived from a domestically-produced, water-extracted purple corn husk, and ChromaDex’s flagship consumer product TRU NIAGEN^™, found at truniagen.com. To learn more about ChromaDex, please visit
 www.ChromaDex.com.