• An experiment on NMN in mice conducted by Professor David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School has produced impressive clinical results and may lead to the development of new treatments to combat ageing and its associated diseases.
• When Professor Sinclair and his colleagues injected this rare substance into two-year-old mice, they observed, after just one week's treatment, notable improvements to muscle (a reduction in muscle atrophy), enhanced insulin resistance and reduced inflammation, making the mice indistinguishable from younger animals.
• According to Dr Nigel Turner, a pharmacologist at the University of New South Wales, “It's like a 60-year-old being similar to a 20-year-old on some measures”. Professor Sinclair added: “If these results stand, then ageing may be a reversible condition, if it is caught early".
• In a report published in the journal Cell, the researchers clearly show how the NMN injected into the animals converts into NAD to repair the compromised communication channels within a very short timescale - less than a week, in fact.
• The activity described by Professor Sinclair, who was previously responsible for research into resveratrol, highlights NMN's ability to activate all seven of the SIRT genes involved in extending longevity.
• In humans as in mice, nicotinamide mononucleotide, at an average daily dose of 125mg - 1 capsule a day - could produce a natural reversal of the ageing process. According to Professor Sinclair, this substance is fast-acting and could also benefit young, healthy people.

As we grow older, activation of cellular AMPK declines. This leads to, amongst others, weight gain - because AMPK determines body fat composition – and therefore predisposes to the diseases associated with excess weight. In order to combat the ageing process, it is therefore essential to restore AMPK production and there are various ways of doing this such as physical exercise, even though benefits are less marked in elderly people, and calorie restriction, or taking substances that mimic it, such as resveratrol or oxaloacetate.

Most Western societies today are facing a significant problem with over-consumption. Eating too many calories impairs vital functions such as healthy uptake of glucose and fat from the blood, and leads to the accumulation of cellular waste and changes to longevity genes. This manifests as undesirable weight gain, diabetes, degenerative diseases and premature death. Few people are able to successfully maintain long-term calorie restriction, and so the identification by scientists of AMPK is indeed welcome news - when activated, this cellular enzyme mimics the beneficial effects of calorie restriction including loss of surplus body fat. Pre-clinical research has shown that boosting AMPK activity is associated with:

• A 20-30% increase in lifespan.
• A reduction in lipogenesis (storage of fat, in particular, dangerous abdominal fat).
• Stimulation of fatty acid oxidation.
• An increase in insulin sensitivity.
• A change in insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells;
• Improved glucose absorption by cells.
• A reduction in cholesterol and triglycerides.
• Suppression of chronic inflammation.
• Enhanced activation of the SIRT1 enzyme (similar to that conferred by resveratrol) and of the P53 tumour-suppressor gene.