Anti-aging compound improves muscle glucose metabolism in people: study

CHICAGO, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A natural compound previously demonstrated to counteract aspects of aging and improve metabolic health in mice has clinically relevant effects in people, according to a study of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The researchers studied 25 postmenopausal women who had prediabetes, meaning they had higher than normal blood sugar levels, but the levels were not high enough to be diagnosed as having diabetes. Of them, 13 received 250 mg of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) orally every day for 10 weeks, and 12 were given an inactive placebo every day over the same period.

The research shows that the compound NMN improved the ability of insulin to increase glucose uptake in skeletal muscle, which often is abnormal in people with obesity, prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes. NMN also improved expression of genes that are involved in muscle structure and remodeling. However, the treatment did not lower blood glucose or blood pressure, improve blood lipid profile, increase insulin sensitivity in the liver, reduce fat in the liver or decrease circulating markers of inflammation as seen in mice.

"This is one step toward the development of an anti-aging intervention, though more research is needed to fully understand the cellular mechanisms responsible for the effects observed in skeletal muscle in people," said co-investigator Shin-ichiro Imai, a professor of developmental biology and of medicine who has been studying NMN for almost two decades and first reported on its benefits in mice.

The study was published Thursday online in the journal Science.