What is NMN and how does NMN work?

By the age of 40, only 25% of NAD+ is left in our bodies.

It starts with the decrease of NAD+ as we age..

NAD+ turns out to be one of the most important coenzymes in your body. It is found both outside and inside your cells and is used for hundreds of essential processes. When this decreases with age, more and more processes run suboptimally or even wrong. Cells no longer do what they are supposed to do.

But how does your body get NAD+? And why should you buy NMN? What role does NMN play as an NAD+ booster?

But how does your body get NAD+?

And why should you buy NMN? As far as we know, there are three routes that lead to NAD+. Precisely because it is so crucial for our body, nature has chosen not to depend on just one route. These routes, better known as “pathways”, are extremely complex and closely related. In the “simplified” diagram below we attempt to explain the three pathways.

And what about NMN? What role does NMN play as an NAD+ booster?

NMN is one of the precursors that is converted into NAD+ via such a pathway. The special thing is that NMN currently seems to be the most efficient precursor of NAD+. By taking NMN you can effectively increase NAD+ levels in your body again.

A green minimalist silhouette of a person with a raised arm, intricately intertwined with an NMN-like serpentine line that loops around the body. The background is black, creating a stark contrast.

So what is NMN and what can it offer you?

NMN the molecule

Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) is a derivative of the B vitamin niacin that dramatically improves health and longevity by acting as a precursor to NAD+. Although NMN is a derivative of vitamin B3, it has unique properties. For example, NMN can enter cells directly, while niacin cannot. This means that NMN can more effectively increase cellular NAD+ levels in, for example, your blood.

NMN and NAD+

If we imagine our bodies as dynamic cities, NAD+ is the essential raw material needed to repair and maintain them. Just as a city relies on a steady supply of materials to maintain its infrastructure, our bodies rely on the right nutrition, vitamins, and minerals to maintain youthful vitality. NMN plays this role for NAD+, much like turning raw steel into towering skyscrapers.

NMN in Foods

Although NMN is naturally found in many foods, including broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, edamame, and avocado, the amounts are small: less than 2.5 mg per 100 grams of food. So to get the daily dose of NMN that has been shown to effectively increase NAD+ levels, you would have to eat at least 100 kilos of edamame.

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The Three Main Pathways to NAD+

1. Salvage

This pathway is characterized by the ability to convert both NR and NMN to NAD+. Where NMN can enter the cell directly, NR must first be converted to NMN before it becomes NAD+.

2. Preis-Handler

NA, also known as Niacin or vitamin B3, is converted to NAD+ here in a number of steps. Because more steps are required, this pathway seems less effective in increasing NAD+.

3. Kynurenine

Here, Tryptophan is converted to NAMN in about 7 different steps, after which it continues via the Preis-Handler pathway to be converted to NAD+.

A biochemical pathway diagram showing NAD+ synthesis via salvage, Preiss-Handler, and de novo pathways. It includes key molecules like NMN, NAM, tryptophan, and enzymes such as CD38, CD157, CD73. The diagram features depictions of cellular compartments inside and outside the cell with labels in Dutch.

What do all those abbreviations actually mean?

How our cells work and the processes involved are extremely complex. The diagram above is, believe it or not, a simplified representation of the different pathways. To help you on your way, we have created an overview of the most important terms and abbreviations that we use below.

Glossary for NMN

ATP (Adenosine triphosphate): An energy carrier in cells, essential for biological processes.
ATP provides energy for cellular activities and is indirectly affected by NAD+ and NMN through metabolic reactions.
cADPR (Cyclic ADP-Ribose): A molecule generated from NAD+, plays a role in calcium signaling.
Calcium signaling: A crucial process in cells involved in numerous functions, including muscle contraction and neurotransmission.
CD38/CD157/: Enzymes that degrade NAD+, which increases the need for NMN as a precursor.
Chromatin Remodeling: a process in which NAD+ dependent enzymes are involved in regulating gene expression.
Coenzyme: A nonprotein chemical compound that serves as a cofactor for enzymes, such as NAD+.
Compartmentalized NAD+ synthesis: The synthesis of NAD+ takes place in different cellular compartments, with NMN playing a role as a precursor.
Thus, there are several ways that result in the synthesis of NAD+.
DNA Methylation: An epigenetic process that plays an important role in regulating gene expression and maintaining genome integrity.
Several NAD+ dependent enzymes play a role in this (such as Sirtuins and PARP enzymes).
eNAMPT: An enzyme that affects NAD+ levels.
Enzymes: Enzymes are biological molecules, usually proteins, that act as catalysts in the body.
A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without being consumed itself.
Enzymes play a crucial role in the body by facilitating and speeding up biochemical reactions.
Gene expression: This is the process by which the information in a gene is used to produce a functional product, usually a protein.
This is a fundamental process in all living organisms, as genes contain the instructions for the functioning of a cell.
The process of gene expression can be divided into two main steps: transcription and translation.
Genome Stability: The stability of the genome affected by NAD+-dependent processes.
Kynurenine Pathway: An alternative pathway for NAD+ synthesis, not directly related to NMN.
Metabolic process: A series of chemical reactions in an organism in which NAD+ and NMN play a key role.
For example, in energy production by converting nutrients into ATP, the energy carrier for your cells.
Mitchondrion: A mitochondrion (plural: mitochondria) is an organelle inside eukaryotic cells that plays a crucial role in energy production.
It is often described as the cell’s “power plant” because it produces most of the cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy carrier that drives cellular functions.
Most cells contain somewhere between 500 and 2,000 mitochondria.
MNAM (N1-Methylnicotinamide): A product of NAM methylation, affects the recycling of NAM to NMN and NAD+.
NA (Nicotinic Acid): Also known as niacin or vitamin B3, NA is an essential nutrient that must be absorbed through diet because it cannot be adequately produced by the body itself.
NA is one of the precursors of NAD+.
NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide): A crucial coenzyme in cells, of which NMN is a direct precursor.
NAD+ plays a key role in a variety of cellular processes such as energy production in the form of ATP, Sirtuin activation, Redox reaction, regulation of cellular stress responses, and signaling in cells.
NAD+ Synthetase (NADS): an enzyme in the final step of NAD+ synthesis, not directly related to NMN.
NADH: The reduced form of NAD+ formed during metabolic reactions in which NAD+ accepts electrons and protons (hydrogen ions).
NAM (Nicotinamide): A degradation product of NAD+, can be recycled to NMN and then to NAD+.
NAM Salvage Pathway: A major pathway for recycling NAM back to NAD+ via NMN.
NAMPT: An enzyme that converts NAM to NMN, a key step in NAD+ biosynthesis.
NNMT (Nicotinamide N-Methyltransferase): converts NAM to MNAM, which affects the availability of NMN and NAD+.
NR (Nicotinamide Riboside): An NAD+ precursor, similar to NMN.
NRK1 (Nicotinamide Riboside Kinase 1): Converts NR to NMN, a crucial step in NAD+ biosynthesis.
NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide): A body’s own molecule that functions as a direct precursor of NAD+.
NMN is essential for maintaining NAD+ levels.
NMNAT (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Adenylyltransferase): converts NMN to NAD+.
PARPs (Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerases): Use NAD+ for DNA repair, and are a family of enzymes that play crucial roles in several cellular processes, mainly in DNA repair and maintaining genetic stability.
They are known for their involvement in repairing single-stranded DNA breaks.
Pathways: Also known as reaction pathways, these are sets of molecular and biochemical reactions and processes that take place in cells and organisms.
These pathways are essential for maintaining life functions and encompass a wide range of activities, including metabolic pathways, signal transduction pathways, and gene expression processes.
Each of these pathways consists of a series of tightly regulated steps, often catalyzed by enzymes, that work together to produce a specific end product or biological effect.
For example, there are several pathways to achieve NAD+ with NMN playing a role in a number of them.
Redox reaction: A chemical reaction in which NAD+ accepts and donates electrons.
These reactions are essential for many metabolic pathways, such as glycolysis, the citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation.
SARM1: SARM1, or Sterile Alpha and TIR Motif Containing 1, is an enzyme involved in the metabolism (utilization) of NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) and plays an important role in neuronal degeneration and the immune system.
Sirtuins: A family of proteins involved in important metabolic processes, including DNA repair, gene expression, and response to cellular stress.
Sirtuins can enhance mitochondrial activity and are involved in the regulation of metabolism, longevity, and inflammatory processes.
NAD+ activates sirtuins.