In vivo NAD assay reveals the intracellular NAD contents and redox state in healthy human brain and their age dependences

Zhu XH, Lu M, Lee BY, Ugurbil K, Chen W · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Non-invasive measurement of brain NAD+ in living people found NAD+, total NAD and the NAD+/NADH redox potential all declining with age while NADH rose — the first in vivo human confirmation that the age-related NAD+ decline seen in rodents happens in human tissue.

Population

Healthy adult volunteers scanned at 7 tesla

Intervention

None — magnetic resonance spectroscopy measurement of intracellular NAD+ and NADH in intact brain

Comparator

Age as a continuous variable

Limitations

Small cohort, cross-sectional, single organ; the technique requires a 7T scanner and has not been applied to joint tissue.