NAD+ and muscle
6 papers in the library, strongest Moderate.
Graded Moderate · Cross-sectional multiomics study of muscle in young and older adults with differing fitness, though training was not assigned and outcomes are molecular markers rather than health.
Papers 6
- Regular Exercise May Rewind the Molecular Clock in Aging MuscleModerate2026Nature agingIn older adults, muscle showed lower activity in genes tied to energy production compared to younger people. But in older adults who trained regularly, half of those aging changes were gone. Their muscle looked more like young muscle at the molecular level.
- NR May Slow Muscle Aging Clocks While Hard Interval Training Speeds Some UpPreliminary2026Aging cellNicotinamide riboside, a popular NAD+ booster, was linked to slower epigenetic aging in muscle across several aging clocks. Surprisingly, high-intensity interval training pushed some of those clocks in the opposite direction, appearing to speed up the pace of aging. The two interventions worked against each other on these markers, which is unexpected and needs more study.
- Nicotinamide Riboside May Shield Female Mouse Muscle From Heat DamagePreliminaryn = 62026Muscles (Basel, Switzerland)Heat stress can hurt muscle by triggering inflammation and damaging the cell's power plants. In female mice, the NAD+ booster nicotinamide riboside reduced that heat damage, calming inflammation and protecting mitochondria. Curiously, it worked without raising muscle NAD+ levels, so the benefit came through other paths.
- Nicotinamide Riboside Protected Mitochondria in Mice With a Rare Muscle DiseasePreliminaryn = 62026Human molecular geneticsNR, a popular NAD+ booster, kept muscle cell powerhouses working in mice with a rare genetic muscle disorder. The disease drains NAD+ levels and damages how muscles make energy. Starting NR early stopped this damage from setting in. This is early animal work tied to a specific inherited condition, not healthy people.
- Why NAD+ Boosters Like NR May Be a Double-Edged Sword for MusclePreliminary2026Frontiers in nutritionMany people take NMN or NR hoping to fight age-related muscle loss. This review of about 60 studies says the story is more complicated. Moderate NAD+ boosting helped muscle stem cells repair and grow in lab and animal studies. But too much or poorly timed signaling actually exhausted those stem cells. Dose and context seem to matter a lot.
- NMN Plus Apigenin May Protect Aging Muscle and Bone Better TogetherPreliminary2026Aging cellIn aged mice, combining the NAD booster NMN with apigenin (a compound found in parsley and chamomile) reduced cartilage breakdown, bone loss, and muscle wasting. The combo works by both producing more NAD+ and blocking enzymes that consume it. Treated mice also showed better exercise capacity. The benefits appeared to work through SIRT3 activation and changes in gut bacteria that produce a helpful fat molecule.
How this map is computed
A mark's size is the number of papers we hold on that pairing. It is a count, not a weighting by study design or sample size.
The fill shows the strongest grade in the cell. One Strong paper among four Preliminary ones still fills it dark, so open the cell to see the rest.
Grades and verdicts are assigned by a named person, never by counting.
An empty cell is a finding: nobody in our library has run that trial yet.