In a wide ranging Twitter Q&A yesterday, Dr. Charles Brenner, who discovered Nicotinamide Riboside “NR” (FAQs) (Reviews) as an NAD boosting vitamin and is actively studying NR’s impact on the treatment of COVID-19 said the following:

QUESTION: Does NR (TRU Niagen) help against Covid-19? And when can we expect human data on this?

DR BRENNER: Working on this

QUESTION: Does taking NR (TRU Niagen) help suppress COVID?

DR BRENNER: Reasons to think it will: 1) NAD under attack with CoV infection, 2) NMRK genes up, 3) higher NAD allows better PARP functions, which are antiviral, 4) NR shown to depress inflammation markers in small human placebo-controlled trial

QUESTION: Thoughts on this kind of quackery? —> “NAD+ is the key to COVID-19 treatment. Innate immune response depletes NAD+. Increased NAD+ will increase innate immune capabilities to fight virus including preventing viral replication through IFN and PARPs”.

DR BRENNER: His thread is based on a paper of ours that is in peer review. You can read it here — the work is in early days but definitely suggests that higher NAD could promote resistance to establishment of infection. The term for this is innate immunity

QUESTION: How do NAD levels relate to innate immune function?

DR BRENNER: Specific PARPs are induced by CoV infection. See HERE Moreover, activity of these enzymes takes down cellular NAD and is limited by cellular NAD. At higher NAD, we expect PARPs will work better to control viral infection. Being tested with @FehrLab @MichaelNADbio

QUESTION: What you just said here: “Activity of these enzymes {PARPS}…. is limited by cellular NAD”? Would that not also be true for every other disease (including aging) that afflicts humankind?

DR BRENNER: I’m evidence-based. No, I would not say that NAD dysregulation is involved in every disease. Sounds hyperbolic and not helpful.

QUESTION: Can you explain how COVID-19 depletes NAD and why it does so? If it is using NAD and depleting it, is there any danger that increasing NAD may also aid the virus?

DR BRENNER: Interferon turns on expression of a bunch of PARPs. Their increased expression depletes NAD. Genetic evidence says that the PARPs are antiviral and the virus is trying to defeat that. It’s all here.

QUESTION: Are the trials for NR with Corona going to stop at 2g for dosage? I know that is the extent of the safety study but I have been exposed several times and NR always gets me back to symptom free but I have sometime topped out at 4-5g. Are there diminishing returns?

DR BRENNER: Don’t know but suspect NR clinicals will continue at 1-2 g

QUESTION: Does a nicotine transdermal patch provide protection against Covid19?

DR BRENNER: I’d be shocked it if did

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RELATED:

  • More on NR and COVID-19 HERE.
  • FAQs on taking NAD boosting vitamin supplement Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) can be found HERE.
  • NR supplementation may have helped sufferers of these diseases & conditions (Consumer Reviews)

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