NAD+ Precursor
NAD+Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide
The end-state coenzyme — administered directly in clinical IV.
NAD+ itself is the coenzyme that sirtuins, PARPs, and CD38 consume. Oral delivery is impractical due to gut degradation; clinical efficacy at relevant plasma concentrations requires intravenous or subcutaneous administration.
What are the pharmacokinetics of NAD+?
- Half-life
- Highly variable; ~30 min free plasma
- Time to peak (Tmax)
- Immediate (IV)
- Clearance
- Rapid tissue uptake and enzymatic degradation
Direct infusion raises plasma NAD+ transiently but does not reliably increase intracellular NAD+ in all tissues.
What doses of NAD+ have been studied?
Typical use
250-1,000 mg IV drip over 2-4 hours
Clinically studied
Protocols vary from 100 mg daily IM to 1,500 mg IV over 10 days
How can NAD+ be delivered?
Which mechanisms does NAD+ affect?
What does the research on NAD+ show?
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · 2019 · PMID 31551753
Bioavailability of Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) in intravenous administration
Grant R, et al.
Measured plasma NAD+ and metabolites during IV infusion — revealed that significant amounts are cleared before reaching tissues.
DOI 10.3389/fnagi.2019.00257(opens in new tab)
Frequently asked questions
- Is NR or NMN better for raising NAD+?
- Both reliably raise blood NAD+ at studied doses. NMN has a dedicated intestinal transporter (Slc12a8) and higher sublingual bioavailability, while NR has the longer human safety record and the most published placebo-controlled trials. Neither has been shown superior in head-to-head human data.
- How does NAD+ decline with age?
- Tissue NAD+ concentrations drop by roughly 50% between age 20 and 70 in measured human tissues. The decline is driven primarily by rising CD38 activity (an NAD+-hydrolyzing enzyme), reduced NAMPT expression, and increased PARP activation from accumulated DNA damage.
- What is the optimal NMN or NR dosage?
- Published human trials use 250-1,000 mg/day for both NMN and NR. The dose-response for NAD+ elevation plateaus around 500-600 mg/day in most studies — higher doses raise blood NAD+ further but with diminishing tissue-level returns. There is no established clinical dose for longevity outcomes.
- Is long-term NAD+ supplementation safe?
- Short-term (up to 12 weeks) NMN and NR supplementation at studied doses shows a favorable safety profile with no serious adverse events in published trials. Long-term (multi-year) human safety data does not yet exist. Known considerations include methyl donor depletion, potential sirtuin inhibition at very high nicotinamide doses, and unclear interactions with some chemotherapies.
- What is NAD+ and why does it matter?
- NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a coenzyme found in every living cell. It shuttles electrons in metabolic reactions (the NAD+/NADH redox pair), and it fuels three critical enzyme families: sirtuins (deacylases governing longevity), PARPs (DNA damage sensors), and CD38 (immune signaling).