Research Article Effective treatment of mitochondrial myopathy by nicotinamide riboside, a vitamin B3

Nutrient availability is the major regulator of life and reproduc-tion, and a complex cellular signaling network has evolved to adapt organisms to fasting. These sensor pathways monitor cellu-lar energy metabolism, especially mitochondrial ATP production and NAD+/NADH ratio, as major signals for nutritional state. We hypothesized that these signals would be modified by mitochon-drial respiratory chain disease, because of inefficient NADH utiliza-tion and ATP production. Oral administration of nicotinamide riboside (NR), a vitamin B3 and NAD+ precursor, was previously shown to boost NAD+ levels in mice and to induce mitochondrial biogenesis. Here, we treated mitochondrial myopathy mice with NR. This vitamin effectively delayed early- and late-stage disease progression, by robustly inducing mitochondrial biogenesis in skel-etal muscle and brown adipose tissue, preventing mitochondrial ultrastructure abnormalities and mtDNA deletion formation. NR further stimulated mitochondrial unfolded protein response, suggesting its protective role in mitochondrial disease. These results indicate that NR and strategies boosting NAD+ levels are a promising treatment strategy for mitochondrial myopathy