Niacin, as an antidyslipidemic drug, elicits a strong flushing response by release of prostaglandin (PG) D2 However, whether niacin is beneficial for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unclear. Here, we observed niacin administration-enhanced PGD2 production in colon tissues in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-challenged mice, and protected mice against DSS or 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic a...

Background and Purpose—Niacin is the most effective medication in current clinical use for increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. We tested the hypothesis that niacin treatment of stroke promotes synaptic plasticity and axon growth in the ischemic brain. Methods—Male Wistar rats were subjected to 2 hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion and treated with or without Niaspan (a prolon...

Niacin: Nicotinic Acid, Nicotinamide, and Inositol Hexanicotinate Introduction Niacin is the vitamin B3 and has fundamental roles as part of reduction/oxidation coenzymes involved in energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and detoxification reactions for drugs and other substances. Niacin comes from in several forms: (1) nicotinic acid (pyridine-3carboxylic acid) (Burgeois et al. 2006), (...

Two 65-year-old white men with coronary heart disease, given niacin therapy for dyslipidemia for 5 months, developed intense dental and gingival pain that was associated with increases in dose and that was relieved with discontinuance of niacin treatment. One individual who took crystalline niacin had beneficial effects on lipid levels, while the other person who took a delayed release preparat...

Niacin, a water-soluble vitamin belonging to the vitamin B group, has been known to cause various problems in the human body when deficient. The vitamin is derived from the diet and afterwards, niacin and its metabolites are secreted in blood or urine. It can be analyzed using liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to mass spectrometry, but niacin and its metabolites are very polar compounds. Recen...

Niacin (nicotinic acid) in its non-physiological dose level is known to be an effective lipid-lowering agent; its potential risk as a therapeutic agent, however, has not been critically considered. Since niacin is excreted predominantly as methylated pyridones, requiring methionine as a methyl donor, the present study was undertaken to examine whether metabolism of the amino acid is altered in ...

Therapy with niacin (nicotinic acid) is unique in that it improves all lipoprotein abnormalities. It significantly reduces low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, and lipoprotein(a) levels, while increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. This makes niacin ideal for treating a wide variety of lipid disorders, including the metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, isolated ...

Niacin, also known as vitamin B3 or nicotinamide is a water-soluble vitamin that is present in black beans and rice among other foods. Niacin is well known as an inhibitor of metastasis in human breast carcinoma cells but the effect of niacin treatment on TRAIL-mediated apoptosis is unknown. Here, we show that niacin plays an important role in the regulation of autophagic flux and protects tumo...

Niacin lowers serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and triglycerides, and it raises high-density lipoprotein. However, most patients experience cutaneous warmth and vasodilation (flush). Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) can reduce this flush, presumably by decreasing prostaglandin D(2) (PGD(2)) release from macrophages. Here, we show that methylnicotinate induces significant PGD(2) release fro...

BACKGROUND Dementia can be caused by severe niacin insufficiency, but it is unknown whether variation in intake of niacin in the usual diet is linked to neurodegenerative decline. We examined whether dietary intake of niacin was associated with incident Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cognitive decline in a large, prospective study. METHODS This study was conducted in 1993-2002 in a geographical...