Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

NAD+ in Canada

Also known as Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide · NAD · β-NAD · Coenzyme I · Diphosphopyridine nucleotide (DPN)

NAD+ — nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide — is not a peptide. It is a coenzyme present in every living cell, the carrier of electrons in energy metabolism and the substrate consumed by sirtuins, PARPs and CD38. Tissue NAD+ levels decline with age in humans and animals, and restoring them is one of the most actively studied ideas in ageing biology — almost entirely through oral precursors such as nicotinamide riboside and nicotinamide mononucleotide. Injected NAD+ itself has a single published human pharmacokinetic study and no controlled outcome trial. Canada Peptides carries research-grade NAD+ as a lyophilised vial alongside the peptide catalogue, priced and shipped in CAD for laboratory and research use only.

Quick facts

Class: Coenzyme — a dinucleotide, not a peptide
Structure: Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide · C21H27N7O14P2 · ~663 Da
Half-life: Extracellular NAD+ is degraded within minutes; intracellular pools turn over over hours
Route in research: Intravenous infusion in the published human study; subcutaneous and intramuscular in clinic practice
Cadence in research: Single six-hour infusion in the published PK study; oral precursors given daily in trials
Storage: Lyophilised: refrigerated, dark. Reconstituted: refrigerated, used promptly — less stable in solution than peptides
Status in Canada

Pharmacology

The central question for injected NAD+ is whether it gets into cells intact, and the evidence says mostly not. NAD+ is a charged, 663-dalton molecule that does not cross membranes freely. When it appears in the extracellular space it is rapidly broken down by ectoenzymes — CD38 and CD157 cleave it to nicotinamide and ADP-ribose, and CD73 and related nucleotidases convert it stepwise to NMN, then NR, then nicotinamide — and it is these smaller products that enter cells and rebuild intracellular NAD+ through the salvage pathway. Flux-tracing work in mice in 2018 showed that even oral NR and NMN are largely converted to nicotinamide in the liver before reaching other tissues. There are reports of specific NAD+ or NMN transporters in some cell types, but the dominant route is degradation and resynthesis. Injected NAD+ is, on the present evidence, best understood as a precursor delivery system with an unusually short-lived parent.

The 2019 infusion study is consistent with that picture. Over a six-hour intravenous infusion, plasma NAD+ did not rise measurably for the first two hours — the infused molecule was being cleared as fast as it arrived — and only later accumulated, while urinary excretion of nicotinamide metabolites increased. A small subset of data on the same molecule suggests rapid tissue uptake or degradation rather than distribution. No study has measured intracellular NAD+ in human tissue after injection.

Once intracellular NAD+ is raised, by whatever route, the downstream pharmacology is that of the NAD+-consuming enzymes: increased sirtuin activity, which in animal models improves mitochondrial biogenesis and metabolic flexibility; support for PARP-mediated DNA repair; and, as a counterweight, more substrate for CD38, whose age-related increase is one proposed cause of the decline in the first place. The pharmacokinetic half-life of the molecule itself is measured in minutes; the intracellular NAD+ pool turns over on a timescale of hours. Neither number describes how long any effect might last, which has not been measured for injected NAD+.

NAD+ FAQ

Is NAD+ for sale in Canada?

Yes. Research-grade NAD+ is available in Canada from Canada Peptides as a lyophilised vial, priced and shipped in CAD. It is supplied strictly for laboratory and research use, not for human consumption. It is not an approved injectable product and not a natural health product.

Is NAD+ a peptide?

No. NAD+ is a dinucleotide coenzyme — nicotinamide riboside joined to adenosine monophosphate through a pyrophosphate bridge — and contains no amino acids. It is listed alongside the peptides here because it is supplied and handled the same way: a lyophilised vial reconstituted for research.

What does the research on NAD+ actually show?

That NAD+ declines with age in human tissue, that oral precursors such as NR and NMN raise blood NAD+ safely in randomised trials with modest clinical effects so far, and that a single pilot study has characterised intravenous NAD+ pharmacokinetics. There is no controlled outcome trial of injected NAD+ for any condition.

What is the half-life of NAD+?

Minutes in the extracellular space, where it is rapidly cleaved by CD38 and related enzymes into nicotinamide, NMN and NR that cells then take up and rebuild into NAD+. In the 2019 infusion study plasma NAD+ did not rise measurably for the first two hours of a six-hour infusion.

How was NAD+ dosed in studies?

The one published human study infused 750 mg intravenously over six hours. Oral NR trials used 250 to 2,000 mg daily, most often 1,000 mg; the NMN trial used 250 mg daily. Subcutaneous and intramuscular NAD+ injections have no published dosing data. There is no validated dose of injected NAD+, and this page does not recommend one.

What side effects does NAD+ research report?

Oral precursors: none beyond placebo in randomised trials. Intravenous NAD+: rate-dependent chest tightness, flushing, nausea, cramping and headache that resolve when the infusion is slowed. Injected NAD+: injection-site pain and the same flushing, reported informally only. Theoretical concerns involve methylation and existing malignancy.

Is NAD+ legal in Canada?

NAD+ is not a controlled substance, and oral precursors are sold legally as natural health products. Injectable NAD+ has no Health Canada authorisation and no DIN, so it may be sold for laboratory research, as here, but not marketed or supplied for human use. It is not prohibited in sport.

NAD+ injection vs NMN or NR — what is the difference?

NR and NMN are oral precursors that cells convert into NAD+, and they have randomised human trials behind them. Injected NAD+ is the finished coenzyme, but it is largely broken down to those same precursors outside cells before being rebuilt inside them, and it has no controlled trial evidence. The precursor data does not transfer to the injected molecule.

NAD+ in Canada

Quick facts

NAD+ — for sale in Canada

What is NAD+?

Evidence at a glance

Pharmacology

Identity and chemistry

Storage and stability

Research indications

Research protocols

Interactions and stacking in research

Reconstitution and handling

Side effects and safety signals

Regulatory status in Canada

Further reading

NAD+ FAQ

Research references