Exercise-induced benefits on glucose handling in a model of diet-induced obesity are reduced by concurrent nicotinamide mononucleotide

Almost 40% of adults worldwide are classified as overweight or obese. Exercise is a beneficial intervention in obesity, partly due to increases in mitochondrial activity and subsequent increases in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)), an important metabolic cofactor. Recent studies have shown that increasing NAD(+) levels through pharmacological supplementation with precursors such as nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) improved metabolic health in high-fat-diet (HFD)-fed mice. However, the effects of combined exercise and NMN supplementation are unknown. Thus, here we examined the combined effects of NMN and treadmill exercise in female mice with established obesity after 10 wk of diet. Five-week-old female C57BL/6J mice were exposed to a control diet (n = 16) or HFD. Mice fed a HFD were either untreated (HFD; n = 16), received NMN in drinking water (400 mg/kg; HNMN; n = 16), were exposed to treadmill exercise 6 days/wk (HEx; n = 16), or were exposed to exercise combined with NMN (HNEx; n = 16). Although some metabolic benefits of NMN have been described, at this dose, NMN administration impaired several aspects of exercise-induced benefits in obese mice, including glucose tolerance, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from islets, and hepatic triglyceride accumulation. HNEx mice also exhibited increased antioxidant and reduced prooxidant gene expression in both islets and muscle, suggesting that altered redox status is associated with the loss of exercise-induced health benefits with NMN cotreatment. Our data show that NMN treatment impedes the beneficial metabolic effects of exercise in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity in association with disturbances in redox metabolism. NEW & NOTEWORTHY NMN dampened exercise-induced benefits on glucose handling in diet-induced obesity. NMN administration alongside treadmill exercise enhanced the ratio of antioxidants to prooxidants. We suggest that NMN administration may not be beneficial when NAD(+) levels are replete.

Automated summary

Research has shown that NMN treatment impairs the benefits of exercise in obese mice, affecting glucose tolerance, insulin secretion, and hepatic triglyceride accumulation. However, exercising alongside NMN supplementation enhanced the ratio of antioxidants to prooxidants, suggesting that NMN administration may not be beneficial when NAD(+) levels are replete.