Vitamin B3 may help patients with Multiple sclerosis

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 | Author : Steve Walters

The results of a new study have suggested that Nicotinamide, which is a form of vitamin B3, may help individuals who are suffering from Multiple sclerosis. The study, which was conducted on mice suffering from a disease similar to Multiple sclerosis, showed that the vitamin not only protected the nerve fibers of the mice from degeneration and loss of fatty insulating tissues, but also slowed down the process of nerve fiber damage.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease involving the central nervous system in which the body attacks its own tissues through the immune system. The nerves in the brain and spinal cord are surrounded by the myelin sheath and MS causes inflammation and injury to these nerves insulating myelin sheath. This disrupts the ability of the nerve signals, which in turn affects the communication between the brain and other parts of the body, resulting in loss of muscle coordination, loss of vision, sensation or strength. Symptoms of Multiple sclerosis include muscle weakness, difficulty in walking, blurred or double vision, partial or complete vision loss, fatigue and pain.

At present there is no cure for MS. Also, some medications which are used to treat MS have significant side effects. Current treatments work towards slowing the progression of degeneration and offer protection from inflammation and loss of fatty tissues, but do not completely stop the course of the disease.

The researchers, from the Children's Hospital Boston's Neurobiology Program, injected mice that were suffering from a disease similar to MS, with nicotinamide (a form of vitamin B3). They found that these injections protected the nerve fibers of the mice from degeneration and also from loss of fatty insulating tissues. Even where the nerve fibers were already seen to be damaged the injections provided protection from any further degeneration. The protective effect increased with the increase in the dose of nicotinamide, with a higher dose showing a more protective effect.

When rated on a scale of 1 to 5 where one indicated the lowest nerve damage and 5 indicated the highest nerve damage, mice who had received the highest doses of nicotinamide scored 1 or 2 as compared to their counterparts, who had received no nicotinamide and who had scored 3 or 4. Even in mice where the nicotinamide treatment was delayed for a period of 10 days following onset of the disease, the neurological symptoms were significantly reduced.

Dr. Shinjiro Kaneko, MD, a research fellow at Children's Hospital Boston who led the study said: "We hope our work will initiate a clinical trial, and that nicotinamide could be used in real patients. In the early phase of MS, anti-inflammatory drugs may work, but long-term, you need to protect against axonal (nerve fiber) damage." "The earlier therapy was started, the better the effect, but we hope nicotinamide can help patients who are already in the chronic state.”

The study details have been published in the Journal of Neuroscience in their September 20 issue.

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