Niacin is considered to be a powerful drug for the treatment of lipid and lipoprotein abnormalities connected with "residual cardiovascular risk", which persist in high-risk patients even when the target goals of LDL-C are achieved with statin therapy. Recent large randomized clinical studies - AIM-HIGH (Atherothrombosis Intervention in Metabolic Syndrome With Low HDL/High Triglycerides) and HP...

Dementia affects approximately 5 million people in the United States, and about 475,000 elderly Canadians. Dementia is a debilitating and often progressive illness. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, followed by vascular types. There is a need to investigate novel treatments because the current crop of medications have limited value. Niacin might be a worthwhile treatment ...

Niacin (vitamin B3; nicotinic acid) plays an important role in maintaining redox state of cells and is obtained from endogenous and exogenous sources. The latter source has generally been assumed to be the dietary niacin, but another exogenous source that has been ignored is the niacin that is produced by the normal microflora of the large intestine. For this source of niacin to be bioavailable...

Epidemiological surveys suggest an important role for niacin in the causes of Parkinson's disease, in that niacin deficiency, the nutritional condition that causes pellagra, appears to protect against Parkinson's disease. Absorbed niacin is used in the synthesis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) in the body, and in the metabolic process NAD releases nicotinamide by poly(ADP-ribosyl)ati...

Background. Niacin is the most effective treatment currently available for raising HDL-C levels. Objective. To evaluate if gender and baseline lipid levels have an effect on the HDL-C response of niacin ER and to identify factors that predict response to niacin ER at the 500 mg dose. Material and Methods. The change in HDL-C effect between baseline and follow-up levels was quantified in absolut...

Influence of Riboflavin, Choline, Inositol and Niacin on the Hepatic Biosynthesis of Cholesterol of Albino Rats Kept on a High Cholesterol Diet. The influence of high dose of riboflavin, Choline, Inositol and niacin on hepatic biosynthesis of cholesterol of albino rats receiving a high cholesterol diet was studied. The animals receiving high doses of riboflavin along with a high cholesterol die...

INTRODUCTION Dyslipidemia is closely related to erectile dysfunction (ED). Evidence has shown that the lipid-lowering agent, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitor (statins), can improve erectile function. However, information about the potential role of another class of lipid-lowering agent, niacin, is unknown. AIM To assess the effect of niacin alone on erectile function ...

It has been known for many years that tryptophan is converted to niacin by mammals (1) and Neurospora (2) and that 3-hydroxyanthranilate is an intermediate in this conversion (3). The steps between 3-hydrosyanthranilate and niacin have, homever, remained obscure until recently. A very active soluble oxidase present in mammalian kidney and liver converts 3-hydroxyanthranilate to the unstable acy...

Niacin-positive Mycobacterium kansasii was isolated from three patients, two with respiratory infections and one with a perirectal abscess. The isolates were phenotypically similar to other strains of M. kansasii, differing only in their ability to produce niacin. This phenotype has been reported only twice in the literature, during the 1960s.

Insulin stimulates the translocation fatty acid transport protein 1 (FATP1) to plasma membrane, and thus greater free fatty acid (FFA) uptake, in adipocyte cell models. Whether insulin stimulates greater FFA clearance into adipose tissue in vivo is unknown. We tested this hypothesis by comparing direct FFA storage in subcutaneous adipose tissue during insulin versus niacin-medicated suppression...