Anti-ageing

Anti-ageing

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Biotechnology

Context: A recent paper titled ‘Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) as an anti-ageing health product — Promises and safety concerns’, published by a group of researchers from China and New Zealand, has raised several concerns.

Content:

• Ageing occurs because of a process called ‘mitochondrial decay’.
• Mitochondria are part of our cells and responsible for producing energy, hence they are the ‘powerhouses’ of our bodies.
• Over time, mitochondria are unable to produce enough energy since there is a dip in the levels of a biochemical called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) in them.
• This happens because the NAD+ are consumed by enzymes such as NADase and sirtuins. Depletion of NAD+ is also associated with oxidative stress, DNA damage, and cognitive impairments.
• So, the trick in anti-ageing is, therefore, to keep NAD+ levels steady.
• Presently, NAD+ is derived from another chemical called nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), which is a bioactive nucleotide formed when a nucleoside comprising nicotinamide and ribose reacts with a phosphate group.

NMN Benefits and Concerns:

• NMN can be industrially produced as a food supplement that brings several benefits.
• In addition to anti-ageing — it helps combat obesity and associated complications, Alzheimer’s disease, cerebral and cardiac ischemia and type-2 diabetes.
• The safety of these doses cannot be assessed since there have been no clinical or toxicological studies. Besides, there is no regulatory authority for NMN products as they are often sold as a food product rather than heavily regulated therapeutic drug.

To know about Mitochondria, refer: https://optimizeias.com/how-mitochondria-adapted-to-living-within-cells/