Niacin may Benefit Mental Health

by | Apr 15, 2016 | 2008, Alzheimer's Disease, Brain Health, Vitamin B - General

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. In a mouse study those taking niacin did 33% better in a mental test.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a condition that has doubled since 1980, currently affecting just under 5 million Americans but expected to affect 16 million by 2050 (1). AD currently costs our healthcare system over $100 billion each year. Fortunately, there are some simple ways to help maintain mental health, including eating apples (3), drinking green tea (4) fish oil (5) vitamin E (6), grape seed extract (7), and maintaining normal levels of homocysteine (8).

Now a new study in mice (9) has found that vitamin B3, also known as Niacin, with a recommended daily intake of 16 mg per day in men and 14 mg per day in women (11), may help with mental health. Niacin is found in foods such as yeast, meat, fish, milk, eggs, green vegetables, and cereal grains (10).

In the study, researchers fed 4-month old mice 200 mg of niacin per kg of bodyweight* through their drinking water for 4 months. During this time, the mice completed a Morris Water Maze (MWM) that requires and includes finding a hidden platform in a maze. The MWM requires use of a part of the brain called the hippocampus (12) which deteriorates during AD (13).

The mice in the niacin group performed 33% better than the control group, finding the platform in 4 days compared to 6 days for the control group. Niacin also “rescued both short- and long-term memory” compared to the control group “as determined by the marked increase in the number of platform crosses and reduced [time needed] to cross the platform.”

The researchers suggested that niacin elicited these benefits by targeting two enzymes called HATs and HDACs whose decreased function has been linked to several human diseases including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders (13). For the researchers, “the results presented here suggest that [niacin] has potential as a novel, safe, and inexpensive AD therapy.”

*The dose in mice is equivalent to 113mg per day for a 70 kg human (154 lbs.). Doses in niacin range up to 500mg and occasionally 1000mg in health stores.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com.

Source: Green, Kim N., et al. “Nicotinamide restores cognition in Alzheimer’s disease transgenic mice via a mechanism involving sirtuin inhibition and selective reduction of Thr231-phosphotau.” Journal of Neuroscience 28.45 (2008): 11500-11510.

Click here to read the full text study.

Posted February 16, 2015.

References:

  1. Hebert, LE; Scherr, PA; Bienias, JL; Bennett, DA; Evans, DA. “Alzheimer Disease in the S. Population: Prevalence Estimates Using the 2000 Census.” Archives of Neurology August 2003; 60 (8): 1119 – 1122
  2. Ernst, RL; Hay, JW. “The U.S. Economic and Social Costs of Alzheimer’s Disease Revisited.” American Journal of Public Health 1994; 84(8): 1261 – 1264
  3. Lee, C. Y. (2004). “Protective Effects of Quercetin and Vitamin C against Oxidative Stress-Induced Neurodegeneration.”Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 52: 7514-7517
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  5. Wurtman RJ.  Synaptic proteins and phospholipids are increased in gerbil brain by administering uridine plus docosahexaenoic acid orally.  In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 21 April 2006 in Brain Research
  6. American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting 15 April 2008, Poster Sessions III: Aging and Dementia: Clinical II [P03.076] Vitamin E Use Is Associated with Improved Survival in an AD Cohort Authors: V. Pavlik, R. Doody, S. Rountree, E. Darby
  7. Wang J.  Grape-Derived Polyphenolics Prevent Aâ Oligomerization and Attenuate Cognitive Deterioration in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease.  Journal of Neurosci 2008; 28(25):6388-6392; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0364-08.2008
  8. Seshadri S.  Association of Plasma Total Homocysteine Levels With Subclinical Brain Injury.   Arch Neurol.2008; 65: 642-49
  9. Green KN. Nicotinamide Restores Cognition in Alzheimer’s Disease Transgenic Mice via a Mechanism Involving Sirtuin Inhibition and Selective Reduction of Thr231-Phosphotau. J. Neurosci., Nov 2008; 28: 11500 – 11510 ; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3203-08.2008
  10. “Niacin” posted on mayoclinic.com/health/niacin/NS_patient-niacin
  11. “Niacin” posted on nal.usda.gov/fnic/DRI//DRI_Thiamin/123-149_150.pdf
  12. Timmermann S, Lehrmann H, Polesskaya A, Harel-Bellan A (2001) Histone acetylation and disease. Cell Mol Life Sci 58:728–736
  13. Oddo S, Caccamo A, Shepherd JD, Murphy MP, Golde TE, Kayed R, Metherate R, Mattson MP, Akbari Y, LaFerla FM (2003) Triple-transgenic model of Alzheimer’s disease with plaques and tangles: intracellular Abeta and synaptic dysfunction. Neuron 39:409–421