ChromaDex: Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) May be a Potential Therapeutic Strategy for Glaucoma Patients

ChromaDex announced promising findings from two independent clinical study abstracts originally presented in April at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting and recently published in the peer-reviewed ARVO journal, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. Together, the results from these abstracts suggest that glaucoma patients have lower cellular NAD+ levels and thus replenishing NAD+ levels with a precursor, such as nicotinamide riboside (NR), may be a potential therapeutic strategy, according to a company news release. 

The abstract, titled “Primary open angle glaucoma patients have lower systemic mitochondrial function, associated with lower systemic nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) levels, compared to controls,” observed significantly lower cellular NAD+ levels and impaired mitochondrial function in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Further, higher NAD+ levels were strongly associated with higher mitochondrial function parameters, suggesting increased NAD+ levels are associated with improved energy production and cellular activity. 

This research is consistent with research from a study led by Dr. Christopher Leung, which includes preliminary data from a clinical study set to complete in 2024, titled “Nicotinamide Riboside for Progressing Glaucoma: A Double-blind, Parallel Group, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial – A Report on Neuroenhancement.” The data demonstrate that NR, one of the most promising and efficient NAD+ precursors in the healthy aging space, had beneficial effects in patients with progressing glaucoma by preventing visual field sensitivity decline, according to ChromaDex. 

Both abstracts are in line with previous preclinical studies demonstrating that NR supplementation had protective effects in retinal degeneration models (Zhang et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2021).

“This newly published preliminary research signifies a milestone for the potential NAD+ boosting effects may have on eye health,” Dr. Andrew Shao, ChromaDex Senior Vice President of Global Scientific & Regulatory Affairs, said in a company news release. “The data builds on previously published preclinical mouse studies indicating that retinal degeneration exhibited depleted levels of NAD+ and supplementation with NR had protective effects. As NR is one of the most efficient NAD+ precursors, this may be a promising therapy for glaucoma patients and we look forward to seeing the full peer-reviewed published studies along with future research in this area.”

The data showcases mitochondrial function in glaucoma patients may be improved by elevating NAD+ levels using NR as a potential therapeutic strategy.