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The newest vitamin B3 family member, nicotinamide riboside (NR) has been found to have beneficial effects on mitochondria in the human muscle. Currently, mitochondrial dysfunction cannot be treated. Recent findings encourage further investigation of whether this vitamin B3 form could serve as a potential therapeutic option for mitochondrial dysfunction. In a recent twin study, it was found that nicotinamide riboside (NR) increased the number of mitochondria in the muscle after long-term administration. In addition, NR improved the gut bacterial composition and increased the blood NAD+ concentrations. "Our study demonstrated the beneficial effects of long-term supplementation of NR on NAD+ metabolism,...

Glaucoma involves a high risk of losing sight. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and St. Erik Eye Hospital, among others, have now studied the effects of nicotinamide, the amide of vitamin B₃, on animal and cell models for glaucoma. The study, published in Redox Biology, may be a future neuroprotective therapy in glaucoma in humans. A clinical trial will start in the autumn. In glaucoma, the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain, is progressively damaged, often in association with elevated pressure inside the eye. The only treatment strategies currently available target the pressure in the eye using eye...

In mice genetically predisposed to glaucoma, vitamin B3 added to drinking water is effective at preventing the disease, a research team reports in the journal Science. The vitamin administration was surprisingly effective, eliminating the vast majority of age-related molecular changes and providing a remarkably robust protection against glaucoma. It offers promise for developing inexpensive and safe treatments for glaucoma patients. Conducting a variety of genomic, metabolic, neurobiological and other tests in mice susceptible to inherited glaucoma, compared to control mice, the researchers discovered that NAD, a molecule vital to energy metabolism in neurons and other cells, declines with age. The...

Stem cell-based therapies are becoming increasingly common, especially in the treatment of blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia. In these cases, the patient's cancerous blood stem cells are removed and replaced with new, healthy ones. However, up to a quarter of cases end in death because replenishing of blood cells is too slow. Scientists already know that stress causes HSCs to slow down—reconstituting the entire blood-cell supply system can be overwhelming. In terms of biology, this stress causes increased activity in mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles of the cell. To meet the high demands of rebuilding blood cells, the mitochondria of...

Nicotinamide, commonly known as vitamin B3, may help the innate immune system kill antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria, the so-called "superbugs". In lab work done with mice and human blood, researchers found high doses of the vitamin increased the ability of immune cells to kill the bacteria by 1,000 times.The discovery opens the door to a new arsenal of tools for dealing with antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, such as those caused by methicillin-resistant S. aureus or MRSA, that have killed thousands of people around the world. They are increasing in hospitals and nursing homes, and also rising in prisons, among athletes, people in...

A LITTLE KNOWN OBSCURE FACT, IS THAT BILL W., THE CO-FOUNDER OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, PRODUCED AND WROTE THREE PAPERS ABOUT THE BIOCHEMICAL ASPECTS OF ALCOHOLISM. BILL, SUFFERED HORRIBLY FROM DEPRESSION MOST OF HIS LIFE, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER SOBRIETY. HE FOUND SOME SUBSTANTIAL RELIEF FROM HIS DEPRESSION IN 1960 AFTER MEETING TWO DOCTORS IN NEW YORK; ABRAM HOFFER AND HUMPHREY OSMOND. THESE TWO DOCTORS WERE RESEARCHING ALCOHOLISM AND MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS IN CANADA. AFTER MEETING HOFFER AND OSMOND BILL BEGAN TAKING VITAMIN B-3 (NIACIN). BILL FOUND SUCH A GREAT RELEASE FROM HIS DEPRESSION, THAT HE SET OUT TO ADVANCE THIS...

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland (Reuters) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates threw his support on Wednesday behind an on-again, off-again plan to develop a new long-range U.S. bomber, citing the military modernization of China. "I am committed to seeing the United States has an airborne long-range strike capability," Gates said at an annual conference of the U.S. Air Force Association, an advocacy group. He said the United States should be less concerned with a toe-to-toe challenge from "countries like China" and "more concerned with their ability to disrupt our freedom of movement and narrow our strategic options." Gates referred to investments that...

March 10, 2008: Stung by rumors that they were not serious about developing a new heavy bomber, the U.S. Air Force announced that it was developing such an aircraft, that it would be in service by 2018, and would be able to operate with, or without, a crew. The implication was that the design of the new bomber was already quite advanced, and that it was, like the B-2, being handled as a "black project" (all work done in secrecy, until ready for production.) The new bomber would be similar to the current B-2 in many ways. That is, it...

<p>ERUSALEM - Israeli jets attacked a Palestinian militant group's training base in southern Lebanon early Wednesday, hours after an Israeli border town was hit by rocket fire, the military said.</p> <p>The base located south of Beirut is operated by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small group that has been waging a decades long fight against the Jewish state.</p>