ChromaDex will provide Wageningen University with quantities of its proprietary NIAGEN nicotinamide riboside (NR) ingredient for research use.
ChromaDex’s NIAGEN is the first and only commercially available form of NR, a naturally-occurring vitamin B3 derivative found in milk. Published research has shown that NR is perhaps the most effective precursor to boost the co-enzyme NAD+ in the cell.
NAD+ is arguably the most important cellular co-factor for improvement of mitochondrial performance and energy. In recent years, NAD+ has also been recognized as an extracellular signaling molecule involved in cell-to-cell communication. NAD+ is essential in supporting healthy cellular metabolism including the efficient conversation of blood glucose into energy.
Wageningen University Human and Animal Physiology Group chair holder Dr Jaap Keijer will investigate the health benefits of NR in an experimental model of metabolic disease.
Together with Dr Maria Hegeman and Dr Dorien van Dartel, he aims to obtain detailed insight in the processes affected by NR which will help to establish optimal dietary NR concentrations to maintain or even improve metabolic health.
Dr Keijer said: "It is highly relevant for implementation towards health protection to precisely understand how NR directs tissue NAD metabolism."
ChromaDex founder and CEO Frank Jaksch, Jr., said that the company is glad to add Wageningen University to its list of prestigious partners advancing the understanding of how NR supports human health.
"NIAGEN™ has earned interest from our growing list of commercial partners and the coming wave of academic research will help to solidify the science of NR," Jaksch added.