Here is the link to a paper which specifically shows that Alpha Lipoic Acid can boost the levels of NAD+ and change the ratio.
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/22456698
RESULTS:
ALA increased the NAD(+)/NADH ratio to enhance SIRT1 activity and production in C(2)C(12) myotubes. ALA subsequently increased AMPK and ACC phosphorylation, leading to increased palmitate β-oxidation and decreased intracellular triacylglycerol accumulation in C(2)C(12) myotubes. In cells treated with nicotinamide or transfected with SIRT1 siRNA, ALA-mediated AMPK/ACC phosphorylation, intracellular triacylglycerol accumulation and palmitate β-oxidation were reduced, suggesting that SIRT1 is an upstream regulator of AMPK. ALA increased ATGL and suppressed FAS protein production in C(2)C(12) myotubes. Oral administration of ALA in diabetic mice fed on a high-fat diet and db/db mice dramatically reduced the body weight and visceral fat content.
I was going to respond that the study linked previously made no mention of NAD boosting and that it had a ridiculously small sample size in mice. Why are these studies using such a small sample size? Is it funding? Without access to the full text to the next one I can't see what kind of sample size they used as far as the in vivo portion is concerned. This is weak at best but a very interesting hypothesis nonetheless. It would be exciting if it turned out to be true. NR is so expensive but ALA doesn't appear to be. If this were true we wouldn't necessarily have to take so much NR (1g in recent Chromadex trials) to boost it considerably.
I assume we're talking about ALA because it's available whereas this other substance, beta-lapachone is not?
Side thought: Considering the fact that both Nicotinamide Riboside and Alpha Lipoic Acid are available for human consumption, can we crowd fund a double blind controlled human trial to determine whether or not this is true?
Question: People are mentioning better results with niacin in the thread. First off I'm not sure what "results" are expected. Some people take supplements expecting some miraculous change but I would say that you can't really know what's going on in such a short period of time, even if it is proven that NAD is boosted by 30-50%. If at the very least aging is prevented or slowed, you couldn't possibly know for at least a decade. However if nacin does also boost NAD+ then what would be the difference between niacin (flush) NA and niacinamide NAA (no flush) in this context? Do both do pretty much the same thing with NAD? Does niacinamide (NAA) inhibit sirtuins or is that just nicotinamide (NAM)?
Edited by Nate-2004, 01 June 2016 - 09:07 PM.