Nicotinamide riboside, an NAD precursor, attenuates inflammation and oxidative stress by activating sirtuin 1 in alcohol-stimulated macrophages.

Macrophages play an essential role in alcohol-induced inflammation and oxidative stress. We investigated the effects of nicotinamide riboside (NR), a natural nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) precursor, on alcohol-induced inflammation and oxidative stress in macrophages. NR significantly decreased ethanol-induced inflammatory gene expression, with a concomitant decrease in nuclear translocation of nuclear factor κB p65 in RAW 264.7 macrophages and mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). In macrophages incubated with ethanol or acetaldehyde, NR abolished the accumulation of cellular reactive oxygen species. Ethanol decreased sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) expression and activity, and cellular NAD level while inducing pro-inflammatory gene expression. However, NR markedly attenuated the changes. SIRT1 inhibition augmented ethanol-induced inflammatory gene expression, but its activation elicited opposing effects. Also, ethanol did not alter glycolysis but increased glycolytic capacity, glycolytic reserve, and non-glycolytic acidification, with concomitant increases in hypoxia-induced factor 1α expression and activity, phosphorylation of pyruvate dehydrogenase, and extracellular lactate levels. Interestingly, ethanol increased mitochondrial respiration and ATP production but decreased maximal respiration and spare respiration capacity. The latter was linked to decreases in mitochondrial copy numbers. NR abolished the ethanol-induced metabolic changes in the glycolytic and oxidative phosphorylation pathways in RAW 264.7 macrophages. In conclusion, NR exerts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties by abrogating the inhibitory effects of ethanol on the SIRT1 pathway by increasing Sirt1 expression and its activator, NAD. Also, SIRT1 activation and normalization of ethanol-induced changes in NAD/NADH ratios by NR are likely crucial to counteract the changes in energy phenotypes of macrophages exposed to ethanol.