Frontiers in bioscience (Landmark edition)May 31, 2020

New Understandings of Nicotinamide’s Role in Metabolism, Cell Cleanup, and Growth Control

Longevity & Aging Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Apr 3, 2026

Abstract

Metabolic disorders like diabetes mellitus are increasingly significant risk factors for global health and economic stability.

Conventional therapies may limit disease progression but do not prevent future complications.
Novel strategies involving nicotinamide and specific cellular pathways show potential for treating metabolic disorders.
Management of mTOR and AMPK pathways may support cellular energy balance and improve glucose use.
Enhancing these pathways could help maintain pancreatic beta-cell function and mitochondrial health.
The complex interactions among these pathways may influence clinical outcomes and require further study.

Simplified

Metabolic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus (DM), are increasingly becoming significant risk factors for the health of the global population and consume substantial portions of the gross domestic product of all nations. Although conventional therapies that include early diagnosis, nutritional modification of diet, and pharmacological treatments may limit disease progression, tight serum glucose control cannot prevent the onset of future disease complications. With these concerns, novel strategies for the treatment of metabolic disorders that involve the vitamin nicotinamide, the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), mTOR Complex 1 (mTORC1), mTOR Complex 2 (mTORC2), AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK), and the cellular pathways of autophagy and apoptosis offer exceptional promise to provide new avenues of treatment. Oversight of these pathways can promote cellular energy homeostasis, maintain mitochondrial function, improve glucose utilization, and preserve pancreatic beta-cell function. Yet, the interplay among mTOR, AMPK, and autophagy pathways can be complex and affect desired clinical outcomes, necessitating further investigations to provide efficacious treatment strategies for metabolic dysfunction and DM.

New Understandings of Nicotinamide’s Role in Metabolism, Cell Cleanup, and Growth Control

Abstract

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