Small artery disease pilot reports cognitive changes after nicotinamide riboside
An open-label pilot in older adults with peripheral artery disease reported improved cognitive performance after nicotinamide riboside supplementation. No control group is described, so the findings cannot establish a supplement effect.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
This small pilot reported improved cognitive performance and a brain blood-vessel response after supplementation, while peripheral blood-vessel function showed only a positive trend. With no control group described and no numerical cognitive effects provided, the abstract cannot attribute these changes to nicotinamide riboside or establish lasting benefits for people with peripheral artery disease.
This abstract-based account covers a short, open-label study with few participants. It provides no control comparison or numerical cognitive results, and cannot establish prevention of cognitive decline or broader health benefits.
Different vascular results
The authors distinguish a positive trend in peripheral vessel function from a statistically significant response in a specific brain region. Those findings address different measurements and should not be treated as a uniform improvement in vascular health.
The laboratory component
Researchers also exposed cultured blood-vessel lining cells to participants' blood serum, the liquid portion of blood. Changes in these cells were laboratory findings; they do not directly measure clinical outcomes or establish how participants' cognition changed.
The original publication
Effects of NAD+ supplementation with oral nicotinamide riboside on vascular health and cognitive function in older adults with peripheral artery disease: Results from a pilot 4-week open-label clinical trial.
Szarvas Z, Reyff ZA, Peterfi A et al.
J Pharmacol Exp Ther · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40479886
- Record checked
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