Study Finds OTC Supplements May Enhance Walking in Peripheral Artery Disease Patients

According to a study published in the journal Nature Communications, the over-the-counter supplement nicotinamide riboside, a form of vitamin B3, increased the walking endurance of patients with peripheral artery disease, a chronic leg condition for which there are few effective treatments.

Peripheral artery disease affects approximately 200 million people worldwide over the age of 40. Caused by the buildup of fatty deposits in arteries, and associated with diabetes and smoking, the disease reduces blood flow to the limbs, especially the legs.

Walking often becomes painful, and the disease typically causes declines in walking ability over time. Supervised walking exercise is first-line therapy for Peripheral artery disease, but most people with the condition do not have access to supervised exercise.

In the study, scientists recruited 90 individuals with an average age of 71 who had peripheral artery disease (PAD) to test the effects of nicotinamide riboside. Nicotinamide riboside is a precursor to NAD, an essential compound involved in energy generation, improved blood flow, and DNA repair. Given that PAD is associated with difficulties in energy production within muscle cells, researchers hypothesized that nicotinamide riboside, by enhancing energy generation, could improve walking ability in people with the disease.

The results showed that participants taking the supplement walked an average of 23 feet more in a six-minute walking test after six months, while those taking a placebo walked 34 feet less. Those who took at least 75% of the pills they were supposed to take performed even better, adding more than 100 feet to their walking distance, compared to people who took a placebo.

“This is a signal that nicotinamide riboside could help these patients. We are hoping to conduct a larger follow-up trial to verify our findings. We need to test it on a healthy older population before we recommend healthy people take it,” said the authors.

Reference: McDermott, M.M., Martens, C.R., Domanchuk, K.J. et al. Nicotinamide riboside for peripheral artery disease: the NICE randomized clinical trial. Nat Commun 15, 5046 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49092-5