Dihydronicotinamide Riboside Is a Potent NAD+ Precursor Promoting a Pro-Inflammatory Phenotype in Macrophages.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) metabolism plays an important role in the regulation of immune function. However, a complete picture of how NAD, its metabolites, precursors, and metabolizing enzymes work together in regulating immune function and inflammatory diseases is still not fully understood. Surprisingly, few studies have compared the effect of different forms of vitamin B3 on cellular functions. Therefore, we investigated the role of NAD boosting in the regulation of macrophage activation and function using different NAD precursors supplementation. We compared nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), nicotinamide riboside (NR), and nicotinamide (NAM) supplementation, with the recently described potent NAD precursor NRH. Our results show that only NRH supplementation strongly increased NAD+ levels in both bone marrow-derived and THP-1 macrophages. Importantly, NRH supplementation activated a pro-inflammatory phenotype in resting macrophages, inducing gene expression of several cytokines, chemokines, and enzymes. NRH also potentiated the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on macrophage activation and cytokine gene expression, suggesting that potent NAD+ precursors can promote inflammation in macrophages. The effect of NRH in NAD+ boosting and gene expression was blocked by inhibitors of adenosine kinase, equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENT), and IκB kinase (IKK). Interestingly, the IKK inhibitor, BMS-345541, blocked the mRNA expression of several enzymes and transporters involved in the NAD boosting effect of NRH, indicating that IKK is also a regulator of NAD metabolism. In conclusion, NAD precursors such as NRH may be important tools to understand the role of NAD and NADH metabolism in the inflammatory process of other immune cells, and to reprogram immune cells to a pro-inflammatory phenotype, such as the M2 to M1 switch in macrophage reprogramming, in the cancer microenvironment.

CD38 ecto-enzyme in immune cells is induced during aging and regulates NAD+ and NMN levels.

Decreased NAD+ levels have been shown to contribute to metabolic dysfunction during aging. NAD+ decline can be partially prevented by knockout of the enzyme CD38. However, it is not known how CD38 is regulated during aging, and how its ecto-enzymatic activity impacts NAD+ homeostasis. Here we show that an increase in CD38 in white adipose tissue (WAT) and the liver during aging is mediated by accumulation of CD38+ immune cells. Inflammation increases CD38 and decreases NAD+. In addition, senescent cells and their secreted signals promote accumulation of CD38+ cells in WAT, and ablation of senescent cells or their secretory phenotype decreases CD38, partially reversing NAD+ decline. Finally, blocking the ecto-enzymatic activity of CD38 can increase NAD+ through a nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN)-dependent process. Our findings demonstrate that senescence-induced inflammation promotes accumulation of CD38 in immune cells that, through its ecto-enzymatic activity, decreases levels of NMN and NAD+.

Effects of Food Additives on Immune Cells As Contributors to Body Weight Gain and Immune-Mediated Metabolic Dysregulation.

Food additives are compounds used in order to improve food palatability, texture, and shelf life. Despite a significant effort to assure safety of use, toxicological analysis of these substances, generally, rely on their direct toxicity to target organs (liver and kidney) or their genotoxic effects. Much less attention is paid to the effects of these compounds on cells of the immune system. This is of relevance given that metabolic dysregulation and obesity have a strong immune-mediated component. Obese individuals present a state of chronic low-grade inflammation that contributes to the establishment of insulin resistance and other metabolic abnormalities known as the metabolic syndrome. Obesity and metabolic syndrome are currently recognized as worldwide epidemics that pose a profound socioeconomic impact and represent a concern to public health. Cells of the immune system contribute to both the maintenance of "lean homeostasis" and the metabolic dysregulation observed in obese individuals. Although much attention has been drawn in the past decades to obesity and metabolic syndrome as a result of ingesting highly processed food containing large amounts of fat and simple sugars, mounting evidence suggest that food additives may also be important contributors to metabolic derangement. Herein, we review pieces of evidence from the literature showing that food additives have relevant effects on cells of the immune system that could contribute to immune-mediated metabolic dysregulation. Considering their potential to predispose individuals to develop obesity and metabolic syndrome, their use should be taken with caution or maybe revisited.

Exogenous citrate impairs glucose tolerance and promotes visceral adipose tissue inflammation in mice.

Overweight and obesity have become epidemic worldwide and are linked to sedentary lifestyle and the consumption of processed foods and drinks. Citrate is a metabolite that plays central roles in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. In addition, citrate is the additive most commonly used by the food industry, and therefore is highly consumed. Extracellular citrate can freely enter the cells via the constitutively expressed plasma membrane citrate transporter. Within the cytosol, citrate is readily metabolised by ATP-citrate lyase into acetyl-CoA - the metabolic precursor of endogenously produced lipids and cholesterol. We therefore hypothesised that the citrate ingested from processed foods and drinks could contribute to increased postprandial fat production and weight gain. To test our hypothesis, we administered citrate to mice through their drinking water with or without sucrose and monitored their weight gain and other metabolic parameters. Our results showed that mice receiving citrate or citrate+sucrose did not show increased weight gain or an increase in the weight of the liver, skeletal muscles or adipose tissues (AT). Moreover, the plasma lipid profiles (TAG, total cholesterol, LDL and HDL) were similar across all groups. However, the group receiving citrate+sucrose showed augmented fasting glycaemia, glucose intolerance and the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6 and IL-10) in their AT. Therefore, our results suggest that citrate consumption contributes to increased AT inflammation and altered glucose metabolism, which is indicative of initial insulin resistance. Thus, citrate consumption could be a previously unknown causative agent for the complications associated with obesity.

Resveratrol decreases breast cancer cell viability and glucose metabolism by inhibiting 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase.

Cancer cells are highly dependent on glycolysis to supply the energy and intermediates required for cell growth and proliferation. The enzyme 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase (PFK) is critical for glycolysis, and its activity is directly correlated with cellular glucose consumption. Resveratrol is a potential anti-tumoral drug that decreases glucose metabolism and viability in cancer cells. However, the mechanism involved in resveratrol-mediated anti-tumor activity is not entirely clear. In this work, it is demonstrated that resveratrol decreases viability, glucose consumption and ATP content in the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. These effects are directly correlated with PFK inhibition by resveratrol in these cells. Moreover, resveratrol directly inhibits purified PFK, promoting the dissociation of the enzyme from fully active tetramers into less active dimers. This effect is exacerbated by known negative regulators of the enzyme, such as ATP and citrate. On the other hand, positive modulators that stabilize the tetrameric form of the enzyme, such as fructose-2,6-bisphosphate and ADP, prevent the inhibition of PFK activity by resveratrol, an effect not observed with increased pH. In summary, our results provide evidence that resveratrol directly inhibits PFK activity, therefore disrupting glucose metabolism and reducing viability in cancer cells.