This image has a black background that combines a colorful illustration of a brain and a photograph of 91原创 professor Christopher Martens in a white lab coat working with blood samples in a lab as part of his Alzheimer's research
Christopher Martens, assistant professor of kinesiology and applied physiology and director of the Delaware Center for Cognitive Aging Research, works with blood samples as part of his groundbreaking Alzheimer鈥檚 research.

One step closer

February 22, 2023 Written by Amy Cherry | Photo by Ashley Barnas | Illustration by Jeffrey C. Chase

Researchers link supplement to reduced biomarkers of Alzheimer鈥檚 in the brain

For the first time, a researcher at the 91原创 College of Health Sciences in collaboration with a team at the , a division of the , has determined that the naturally occurring dietary supplement, nicotinamide riboside (NR), can enter the brain.

The discovery was made by Christopher Martens, assistant professor of kinesiology and applied physiology and director of the , and , a senior investigator at the National Institute on Aging. The finding is significant because it supports the idea that NR, upon reaching the brain, can alter the metabolism of relevant biological pathways involved in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer鈥檚. Their work, supported by an NIH grant, and in part by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH National Institute on Aging, was recently  in the journal Aging Cell


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