Posted on 09/06/2020 8:55:23 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Duchenne is the most common and severe form of muscular dystrophy. Because of this genetic disease, one out of every 3,500 children spends their 12th birthday in a wheelchair. This disorder progressively leads to general paralysis, and most patients die of respiratory failure. The disease is caused by a genetic mutation that prevents a protein required to keep muscle cells intact from being produced. While most research focuses on repairing the defective gene, researchers at EPFL have come up with a different strategy. As part of their work on nutrition and aging, they discovered that large doses of a vitamin called nicotinamide riboside were remarkably effective in countering the progress of the disease in animals. Their work has been published in Science Translational Medicine.
Patients suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy are unable to produce dystrophin. This protein is mainly responsible for connecting the various parts of muscle cells; without it, the cells cannot deform correctly. As a result, cell movement mechanically triggers an inflammatory response, which in turn gradually destroys the muscles.
A highly damaging second cycle
Johan Auwerx's team showed that the disease leads to a second cycle of events inside the cells, a series of reactions that exacerbate the disease's damaging effects.
Several processes are at work in the second cycle. First, the 'primary' inflammation overactivates a certain gene, which then consumes a large quantity of an essential component called NAD+.
This causes a shortage of NAD+ within the cell. But this component acts as a fuel for the powerhouse of cells, the mitochondria, which are especially important in muscle tissue. The NAD+ deficiency therefore weakens the muscle, an effect similar to that of mitochondrial deficiency in older people.
Yet the consequences are even worse than they appear.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Ping, Sir.
It should be spelled, “Niagen,” not “Niagin.”
I expect probably none, no matter how much they are being paid to help prolong life.
Sunfs like a hoax to me, if there are not a lot of competitive brands of it.
Is it being prescribed by any gerontologists? No? If not, why not?
Taking vitamin B3 will probably do as well, eh?
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