Nicotinic acid and other B3 forms in yeast aging
What it found
In yeast, nicotinic acid, nicotinamide and nicotinamide riboside feed into NAD+ metabolism and affect how long cells live.
The effects differ between dividing and non-dividing cells.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
NA boosts NAD+ and lifespan
In yeast, nicotinic acid is taken up and used to make NAD+. When nicotinic acid is present, NAD+ levels rise and this supports Sir2 activity, extending replicative lifespan. Cells without the nicotinic acid salvage enzyme Npt1 have low NAD+, lose Sir2 silencing and have a short replicative lifespan.
NR more lasting than NA
Nicotinamide riboside also raises NAD+ and extends replicative lifespan in yeast. Its effect on NAD+ lasts longer than nicotinic acid's, which drops as the culture grows.
NAM has two faces
In yeast, high levels of nicotinamide inhibit Sir2 and shorten replicative lifespan, but nicotinamide is also a precursor that can be converted to nicotinic acid to support NAD+ and Sir2 activity. During chronological aging, nicotinamide extends lifespan by inhibiting Sir2.
NR pathway key for survival
Yeast mutants unable to use nicotinamide riboside have a shorter chronological lifespan and lose the benefit of calorie restriction. Nicotinic acid supplementation does not rescue them, suggesting the NR salvage pathway is more critical for survival in stationary phase.
Other findings
NR production from yeast
By inactivating certain genes, researchers got yeast to release about 4.06 µM of nicotinamide riboside into the medium, and with further optimization up to 28.2 µM. This suggests a way to produce NR using cheap vitamins like nicotinic acid.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that nicotinic acid, nicotinamide and nicotinamide riboside support NAD+ metabolism and affect both replicative and chronological aging in yeast.
- They suggest that nicotinamide and nicotinamide riboside could be promising for postmitotic cells, while nicotinic acid and nicotinamide riboside could be for actively dividing cells.
- They call for further studies to understand whether these NAD+ precursors have beneficial or detrimental effects depending on cell type and tissue in humans.
How it was done
NAD+ levels fall with age, and this is thought to contribute to age-related decline. The authors wanted to understand how vitamin B3 precursors like nicotinic acid affect NAD+ and aging.
The authors reviewed studies in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae on how nicotinic acid, nicotinamide and nicotinamide riboside are used to make NAD+ and how they affect replicative and chronological aging.
What it can’t tell you
- These studies were done in yeast, so they cannot show what happens in people.
- The review does not include human trials of nicotinic acid for aging, so no conclusions can be drawn about its effects on human lifespan.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Fondazione Cariplo (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- Università di Milano-Bicocca, Italy; ISBE.IT/SYSBIO Centre for Systems Biology, Italy
The paper
- Title
- Nicotinamide, Nicotinamide Riboside and Nicotinic Acid-Emerging Roles in Replicative and Chronological Aging in Yeast
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Orlandi I, Alberghina L, Vai M (2020). Nicotinamide, Nicotinamide Riboside and Nicotinic Acid-Emerging Roles in Replicative and Chronological Aging in Yeast. Biomolecules. doi:10.3390/biom10040604Free full textPubMed 32326437DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error