NMN latest research: can prevent kidney injury, improve kidney function

The kidneys, as the body's "purifier", bear the heavy responsibility of removing metabolic waste, regulating electrolyte balance and maintaining stable blood pressure.

Kidney disease is a common chronic disease that threatens people's health.

A breakthrough study found in the journal Scientific Reports reveals the significant protective effect of NMN against adriamycin (ADR) -induced focal glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and elucidates the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms behind it.

This study not only advances our understanding of the treatment of kidney injury, but also opens up new possibilities for patients with focal glomerulosclerosis.

What is adriamycin

Doxorubicin, as a chemotherapy agent, is effective against a variety of cancers, but one of its side effects is that it may cause renal dysfunction, especially focal glomerular sclerosis, characterized by glomerular damage, sclerosis, and renal interstitial fibrosis.

Improvement of kidney function by NMN

In the experiment, the researchers administered NMN for a short period of time to 8-week-old BALB/c mice, which were divided into two groups that received either normal saline (control group) or ADR.

NMN was administered to ADR-treated mice by intraperitoneal injection at a dose of 500 mg/kg/ day for 14 days.

The results showed that NMN treatment significantly reduced urinary albumin excretion in ADR-treated mice.

This is an important biomarker for evaluating kidney injury, and reduced urinary albumin excretion suggests that NMN treatment helps protect the kidney's filtering function and slows the progression of kidney disease.

Protection of renal tissue structure by NMN

① Effect on glomerulus

The glomerulus is the basic unit in the kidney that filters blood and is made up of dense capillaries whose structural integrity is essential for maintaining normal kidney function.

Glomerulosclerosis is a common pathological change in kidney disease, resulting in decreased kidney function.

The researchers found that NMN treatment was able to reduce doxorubicin-induced glomerular sclerosis (ADR).

Glomerular volume and mesangial dilation as assessed by PAS staining were significantly improved in the NMN treated group of mice.

Compared with the control group, the mice in the NMN treatment group had fewer PAS-positive areas of the glomeruli (indicating the degree of sclerosis), suggesting that NMN treatment helped reduce the sclerosis and enlargement of the glomeruli.

② Effect on renal tubulointerstitial

In addition to the glomeruli, other parts of the kidney, such as the tubule interstitium, can also be damaged.

The renal tubule interstitium is another important component of the kidney, which is involved in regulating urine concentration, electrolyte balance, excretion of metabolic waste, and immune response of the kidney.

Tubular interstitial damage can also lead to decreased kidney function and the development of chronic kidney disease.

It was found that NMN therapy also reduced ADR-induced renal tubulointerstitial injury.

By electron microscopy (EM), the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) thickness and foot process density of mice treated with NMN were not significantly different from those in the control group, indicating that NMN treatment helps to maintain the structural integrity of the renal tubulointerstitial.

NMN dose, safety, long-term effect

The study also found that the dose of NMN had a significant impact on the therapeutic effect.

In the experiment, 300mg/kg and 500mg/kg doses of NMN improved proteinuria, while 100mg/kg doses of NMN had no significant effect.

This suggests that the therapeutic dose of NMN needs to be adjusted on a case-by-case basis to achieve the best therapeutic effect.

Short-term NMN treatment did not cause significant adverse reactions in experimental animals, which confirmed the safety of its treatment.

What's more, even short-term NMN treatment was able to maintain its protective effect on the kidneys after stopping treatment.

This "legacy effect" may be related to the long-term activity of Sirt1 activated by NMN, suggesting that NMN has the potential to alter the course of kidney disease.

Sum up

As a potential kidney protectant, NMN has shown potential to improve kidney function and structure in animal models.

It is important to note that more clinical studies are needed to verify the safety and efficacy of NMN in the treatment of human kidney disease.