The Potential Benefic Effect of Nicotinamide Riboside in Treating a Murine Model of Monoiodoacetate-Induced Knee Osteoarthritis

Gherghina FL, Mîndrilă I, Buteică SA, et al. · Journal of Clinical Medicine

The nearest thing to an oral NAD+-precursor joint trial that exists, and it is in rats: NR lowered cartilage-damage (Mankin) scores against untreated OA (P<0.01) and reduced lipid peroxidation and myeloperoxidase (both P<0.05). Hydrolyzed collagen, given at the same dose as a comparator, cleared the same bar. The two were tested against each other on one measure only — nitric oxide, which fell further on collagen (P<0.01).

Population

Wistar rats with monoiodoacetate-induced knee OA, 5 per group

Intervention

Oral nicotinamide riboside 300 mg/kg/day by gavage for 21 days

Comparator

Untreated OA rats; hydrolyzed collagen 300 mg/kg/day; sham

Limitations

Five animals per group; chemically induced OA is a crude model; NR is a different precursor from NMN with different pharmacology. Almost every comparison reported is against the untreated group rather than between the two supplements, so which of them did more is not something this trial establishes: collagen lowered TNF-alpha against untreated rats where NR did not, but collagen and NR were not compared on it.