Next you will learn about a very important molecule that we have in our body and that you have probably never heard of.
It is NAD or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, which is a derivative of Vitamin B3, also known as niacin, niacinamide or nicotinamide (soluble form).
NAD is used in more than 500 reactions, it has a crucial role in metabolism, cell aging, DNA repair and gene expression.
Without the presence of NAD, most of the chemical reactions that protect us from pathologies related to aging do not occur, we accumulate all that damage, and eventually we die.
The NAD intervenes in a vital way in two very important pathways in the human body, as they are; the way of sirtuins and PARPS. Essential in functions that influence the aging process such as mitochondrial synthesis, apoptosis, autophagy, inflammation, intracellular and systemic signaling, DNA repair, genomic stability, and programmed cell death.
Sirtuins are a group of 7 enzymes that regulate the functions that influence the aging process such as mitochondrial synthesis, apoptosis, autophagy, inflammation, intracellular and systemic signaling, DNA repair.
These are often called longevity genes.
PARPS (Poly-ADP-Ribose polymerase) are a family of polymerases involved in DNA repair, genomic stability, and programmed cell death.
These very important processes do not occur if there is no NAD, leading us to accumulate damage, age and die.
That’s how important NAD is, and its levels go down as we age!
In addition to its production being hampered, its degradation increases.
The mentioned PARPS increase their activity over the years, this has scientific logic, since as we age the damage to DNA accumulates and the body must act more to repair it, consuming more NAD.
And there is another enzyme called CD-38 whose activity doubles or triples as we age and which directly degrades NAD. In fact, it is believed that the benefit of therapies that seek to improve inflammation that occurs over the years (inflammaging) is due to their decrease in activity.
The scientific community is investigating how to avoid, or reduce the loss of this important molecule, is considering increasing the synthesis of Novo, promoting the “salvage” pathway and lowering the activity of the enzymes that degrade NAD.
Some options to avoid lowering the NAD are:
Increase de novo synthesis.
Promote the “salvage” route.
The last proposed strategy is to lower the activity of the enzymes that consume NAD or degrade it.
So far it is known that a flavonoid present in dried parsley, celery and chamomile tea, called apigenin, can lower their activity.
So now you know a little more about NAD and its vital importance in maintaining its proper levels.
We hope this post will motivate you to maintain good eating and physical activity habits.
At Marcare Clinic we take care of reviewing, maintaining and offering a quality health service in Hamilton, Ontario.
If you need to visit your doctor for a general medical review or to receive advice on how to improve your quality of life, do not hesitate to contact us.
