Mechanism of Action
NNMT Inhibition
Last updated
The compound blocks nicotinamide N-methyltransferase, an enzyme that attaches a methyl group to nicotinamide and so removes it from the pool available for making NAD+. Blocking the enzyme is proposed to spare nicotinamide and to shift the cell's methyl-group balance. Nearly all the published work is in cell and animal models, and the inhibitors themselves are research chemicals rather than established interventions.
Why it matters here
This is a clear example of a mechanism whose records sit low on the evidence ladder: the enzymology is well described, the human consequence is not.
What it is not
Blocking an enzyme that consumes nicotinamide is not raising NAD+ in a person, and it is not the same as taking an NAD+ precursor. One closes a drain and the other adds to the supply, and evidence for either is not evidence for the other.
Also called
- nnmt inhibitor
- nicotinamide n-methyltransferase inhibition
- nnmt blockade
NNMT is nicotinamide N-methyltransferase. NNMT blockade and NNMT inhibitor describe the same action, one as a process and one as an agent.
Compounds carrying this term
None on file yet. This term is in the controlled vocabulary but no compound record currently uses it — which is a statement about our coverage, not about the term.