NAD

NAD+

Not a peptide. A dinucleotide coenzyme: nicotinamide mononucleotide joined to adenosine monophosphate through a pyrophosphate bridge. It is a substrate and a redox carrier rather than a receptor ligand, cycling between oxidised and reduced forms in central metabolism and serving as the substrate consumed by sirtuins, PARP enzymes and CD38.

NAD+ has 71 registered human studies on ClinicalTrials.gov, reaching phase 4, covering 7,763 planned or enrolled participants across the 70 studies that published a figure. No FDA-approved product contains NAD+. 15,777 papers naming it were published in the last ten years.

Collected 2026-08-02 from ClinicalTrials.gov and Drugs@FDA. Counts include only trials whose registered intervention names NAD+; the registry search is fuzzy, so every match is re-checked. None of this says whether NAD+ works or is safe.

FDA status

Research only

Human studies

71

Furthest phase

Phase 4

Papers, 10 yr

15,777

Readership

19,297

monthly average, Feb–Jul 2026

Tracking since 2026-07-29 · About this data

What has actually been tested in humans

B

Reached phase 3 or 4, not approved

71

Registered human studies

Phase 4

Furthest phase reached

7,763

Planned or enrolled participants, across 70 studies that published a figure

None

No FDA-approved product contains it

260 loose registry matches were checked and 71 confirmed — 189 named something else and were discarded. We count a study only when NAD+ is named as an intervention in it.

Registered means registered — not that the study finished, and not that it found anything. The grade is mechanical: it is computed from the registry and the FDA record alone, and it grades how much is known, never whether a compound is good or safe. Collected 2026-08-02 from ClinicalTrials.gov and Drugs@FDA. Check the query.

What NAD+ is, and what it has been studied for

NAD+ is classified by ChEMBL as a small molecule, and appears in trial registrations under NSC-20272.

Across 71 registered trials, it has been studied in Aging, Parkinson Disease, Healthy Aging and Covid19. A condition here is what a sponsor registered the trial under — it records what was investigated, not what was shown.

The trials were run by Haukeland University Hospital and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) among others. A named commercial sponsor means a compound is in formal development; its absence does not mean the opposite, only that no company has registered a trial under its own name.

How far it got

NAD+ reached Phase 4 across 71 registered trials.Phase 1First given to peoplePhase 2Looking for an effectPhase 3Tested at scalePhase 4Studied after approval

NAD+ reached Phase 4 across 71 registered trials.

No FDA-approved product contains NAD+. A compound can stop at any rung for commercial reasons as easily as scientific ones, and the registry does not record which.

Is anyone studying NAD+?

Papers published each year that name NAD+ in the title or abstract, with the clinical trials that started in the same year marked beneath. Ten calendar years.

06251.3k1.9k2.5k17181920212223242526trials
Vertical axis: papers published that year. Bar for 2026 is hatched because that year is still running.
Publications and trials naming NAD+, by year
YearPublicationsTrials startedComplete year
201714710Yes
201815170Yes
201916200Yes
202017340Yes
202118251Yes
202218651Yes
202317943Yes
202418973Yes
202521402Yes
202616161No

15,777 papers and 11 registered trials between 2017 and 2026. A paper counts when “NAD+” appears in its title or abstract — phrase-matched, so a paper mentioning the words separately is not counted. The total is a single query over the whole window, which is why it does not equal the bars added together: PubMed files a paper under both its electronic and its print publication date, so one paper can appear in two years. Publication volume measures scientific attention, not whether a compound works: a well-studied compound can be well-studied and ineffective. Sources: PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov · collected 2026-08-02.

Published research on NAD+

15,777 indexed papers name NAD+ in their title or abstract. These are the 8 PubMed ranks most relevant. Listing a paper is not a judgement about it, and none of these is summarised here — follow the link and read what it says.

  1. NAD(+) metabolism and its roles in cellular processes during ageing

    Covarrubias AJ, Perrone R, Grozio A, et al.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology2021

    PMID 3335398110.1038/s41580-020-00313-x

  2. NAD+ and sirtuins in aging and disease

    Imai S, Guarente LTrends in cell biology2014

    PMID 2478630910.1016/j.tcb.2014.04.002

  3. NAD(+) homeostasis in health and disease

    Katsyuba E, Romani M, Hofer D, et al.Nature metabolism2020

    PMID 3269468410.1038/s42255-019-0161-5

  4. NAD(+) metabolism, stemness, the immune response, and cancer

    Navas LE, Carnero ASignal transduction and targeted therapy2021

    PMID 3338440910.1038/s41392-020-00354-w

  5. NAD metabolism: Role in senescence regulation and aging

    Chini CCS, Cordeiro HS, Tran NLK, et al.Aging cell2024

    PMID 3742417910.1111/acel.13920

  6. Evolving concepts in NAD(+) metabolism

    Chini CCS, Zeidler JD, Kashyap S, et al.Cell metabolism2021

    PMID 3393032210.1016/j.cmet.2021.04.003

  7. Regulation of and challenges in targeting NAD(+) metabolism

    Migaud ME, Ziegler M, Baur JANature reviews. Molecular cell biology2024

    PMID 3902603710.1038/s41580-024-00752-w

  8. NAD(+) homeostasis in human health and disease

    Zapata-Pérez R, Wanders RJA, van Karnebeek CDM, et al.EMBO molecular medicine2021

    PMID 3404185310.15252/emmm.202113943

Collected 2026-08-02from PubMed, phrase-matched on “NAD+” in title and abstract. Run the same search.

About NAD+

Not a peptide. A dinucleotide coenzyme: nicotinamide mononucleotide joined to adenosine monophosphate through a pyrophosphate bridge. It is a substrate and a redox carrier rather than a receptor ligand, cycling between oxidised and reduced forms in central metabolism and serving as the substrate consumed by sirtuins, PARP enzymes and CD38.

Also known as
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide · NAD

Structure and mechanism only. Nothing above describes what this compound is for, and no dose appears anywhere on this page.

Reading on this compound

All articles

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