Longevity & AgingNMN Shields Aging Hearts from High-Fat Diet Damage via Mitophagy Pathway
Researchers found that nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) protects aging mouse hearts from high-fat diet-induced damage by activating the Sirt3/PINK1/Parkin signaling pathway. In a 7-month study, aging male mice on a high-fat diet supplemented with NMN showed reduced heart enlargement, less myocardial fibrosis, lower levels of cellular senescence markers, reduced inflammation, and decreased apoptosis compared to unsupplemented high-fat diet mice. NMN also restored impaired autophagy flux in both heart tissue and lab-grown cardiomyocytes exposed to fatty acids. Blocking Sirt3 eliminated these protective effects, confirming it as the critical upstream regulator. The findings position NMN as a candidate therapy for metabolic cardiomyopathy in aging populations.
